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WISCONSIN  STATE  CAPITOL 


A 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON, 

THE  CAPITAL  OF  WISCONSIN  ; 

INCLUDING 


THE  FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY 

To  July,  1874, 


WITH  AN 


APPENDIX 

OF  NOTES  ON  DANE  COUNTY  AND  ITS  TOWNS. 


BY 

DANIEL  S.  DURRIE, 

Librarian  of  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin. 


MADISON,  WIS. : 

1874. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-four,. 
By  Daniel  S.  Durrie, 

.in  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


ATWOOD  &  CULVER. 

STEREOTYPERS  AND  PRINTERS. 

MADISON,  WIS. 


PREFACE. 


The  author  of  this  volume  has  long  been  impressed  with  the  fact,  that 
much  information  relative  to  the  early  and  later  history  of  Madison  and 
adjacent  country,  had  not  been  written;  and  that  some  one  should  under¬ 
take  the  task  of  compiling  the  necessary  materials  for  such  a  work, 
availing  himself  of  the  opportunity  now  afforded  to  consult  those  of 
our  citizens  who  established  themselves  here  as  pioneers  and  early  set¬ 
tlers,  before  circumstances  should  render  it  impossible  to  do  so.  Many  of 
these  have  passed  away ;  others  have  removed  to  new  localities,  and  the 
few  that  now  remain,  will,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  events,  be  with  us 
but  a  short  period. 

It  is  true,  that  a  portion  of  our  history  has  been  written.  To  Maj.  H 
A.  Tenney  we  are  indebted  for  many  interesting  facts  collected  in  past 
time,  which  were  published  in  a  small  pamphlet  in  1851,  and  subse¬ 
quently  re-printed.  In  1857,  Hon.  L.  C.  Draper  prepared  a  similar 
work,  much  enlarged ;  but  these  pamphlets,  while  they  accomplished 
the  object  of  their  publication,  in  drawing  public  attention  to  the  beauty 
and  desirability  of  Madison  as  a  place  of  settlement,  did  not  go  into 
the  minutiae  of  our  early  history,  and  necessarily  were  written  up  only 
to  the  date  of  publication,  and  are  now  out  of  print.  The  changes 
and  improvements  that  have  since  taken  place,  have  been  so  marked 
as  to  entitle  Madison  to  a  history  more  complete  and  brought  down 
to  the  present  time,  and  the  present  work  is  designed  to  supply  such 
a  deficiency. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  offer  any  apology  for  local  history  —  the  main 
object  of  which  is  to  furnish  the  first  elements  of  general  history,  to 
record  facts  rather  than  deductions  from  facts.  In  these  municipali¬ 
ties  —  these  separate  incorporations  —  are  to  be  found  many  of  the 
first  moving  causes  which  tend  to  operate  on  and  revolutionize  public 


4 


PREFACE. 


opinion.  Many  facts,  minute  in  themselves,  are  in  this  view  very  im¬ 
portant.  The  details,  which  is  the  appropriate  province  of  the  local 
historian  to  spread  before  the  public,  are  not  so  much  history  itself, 
as  materials  for  history ,  leaving  to  the  general  historian,  who  has 
before  him  all  these  details,  to  exhibit  the  connection  of  the  several 
parts,  and  their  dependence  one  upon  another. 

The  present  volume  has  been  prepared  from  information  derived 
from  the  Madison  newspaper  files  in  the  library  of  the  Historical  So¬ 
ciety  —  from  pioneers  —  from  the  village,  town  and  city  records,  and 
every  reliable  authority  accessible;  and,  it  is  believed,  that  what  is 
herein  stated  is  in  all  respects  true;  or,  if  there  are  errors,  they  will 
not  be  found  important. 

The  writer  is  greatly  indebted  to  many  of  the  early  settlers  for  the 
interest  they  have  taken  in  the  publication  of  this  volume,  and  for 
their  personal  reminiscences  of  early  times;  among  these  may  be 
named  Mrs.  Roseline  Peck,  of  Baraboo,  Wis.,  the  first  settler  of 
that  place  as  well  as  Madison;  R.  L.  Ream,  Esq.,  of  Washingtonr 
D.  C. ;  Gen.  S.  Mills,  of  Madison;  Hon.  M.  M.  Strong,  of  Mineral 
Point,  Wis. ;  J.  T.  Clark,  Esq.,  of  Topeka,  Kansas ;  Dr.  C.  B.  Chapman,. 
Maj.  H.  A.  Tenney,  and  R.  W.  Lansing,  Esq.,  of  Madison.  Thanks  are 
also  due  to  Lyman  C.  Draper,  LL.  D.,  Secretary  of  the  State  Historical 
Society,  for  valuable  assistance.  Among  this  number  also,  who  took  a 
deep  interest  in  the  enterprise,  was  the  Hon.  J ohn  Catlin,  one  ot  our 
most  honored  pioneers.  This  gentleman,  while  laboring  under  protracted 
illness,  furnished  much  information  of  his  early  residence  at  Madison. 
While  this  work  was  passing  through  the  press,  and  o*n  the  4th  of 
August,  1874,  he  departed  this  life  at  his  residence  at  Elizabeth,  N.  J.y 
in  the  71st  year  of  his  age,  highly  respected  by  every  one. 

The  illustrated  edition  of  this  work  has  been  prepared  by  Mr.  H.- 
P.  Jones,  Photographer,  Madison,  whose  reputation  in  his  department 
is  unrivalled. 

Madison,  Wis.,  October  1,  1874. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

Aboriginal  and  French  History  —  Antiquities  —  Arrival  of' 
Ebenezer  Brigham  —  The  Blue  Mounds  —  Visit  op  M  essrf 
Doty,  Baird  and  Martin,  1828  — The  Four  Lakes  — Indian 
Troubles  at  Blue  Mounds  —  The  Black  Hawk  War  —  Wake¬ 
field’s  Account  op  Four  Lake  Country  —  Capt.  Low’s  Visit  — 
Early  Traders:  Armel,  Rowan,  Rasdall,  St.  Cyr  —  Col.  Wm, 
B.  Slaughter — Surveys  by  J.  V.  Suydam  —  Topographical. 
Description  op  Madison  —  Hon.  John  Gatlin’s  Reminiscences. 

9-44 


CHAPTER  II. 

Location  op  Seat  op  Government  —  Territorial  Organization  — 
Hon.  M.  M.  Strong’s  Early  Surveys —  Visit  of  A.  F.  Pratt, 
1887  —  Arrival  op  Eben  Peck  and  Family  —  Feathersto1, 
haugh’s  Visit,  1887 — Arrival  of  A.  A.  Bird  and  Party - 
Woolcock’s  Account  —  Description  of  Old  Capitol  —  V 
Hotel  —  Names  op  Workmen  —  S.  Mills’  Arri^' 
of  Early  Buildings  —  Mrs.  Roseline  Peck’s  v 


CHAPTER  IT 

Visit  op  Gen.  W.  R.  Smith,  1887  —  FiRsr 
Enquirer  ”  and  other  newspaper 
ers  —  Poll  List  op  1889  —  “  M 
Knapp’s  Account,  1838  —  July  < 
chants — P.  E.  Church  Organi 
1838-9. 


£ 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  IY. 

Dane  County  Affairs,  1840  —  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  His- 
TORY  CONTINUED  —  NATIONAL  ANNIVERSARY,  1840  —  CONGREGA¬ 
TIONAL  Church  Organization  —  Settlers,  1840 — Rev.  Dr.  A. 
Brunson’s  First  Visit  —  Improvements,  1841  —  Dane  County 
Residents,  1841  —  Schools  —  Killing  of  Hon.  C.  C.  Arndt  — 
Newspapers,  1842-5  —  Visit  of  J.  A.  Brown  and  Dr.  Goodhue  — 
Census,  1843  —  Kentucky  House  —  Madison,  1843  —  Improve¬ 
ments  :  Schools,  1844-5  —  Madison  Lodge  of  Free  and  Ac¬ 
cepted  Masons  —  Narratives  of  R.  W.  Lansing  and  H.  A.  Ten¬ 
ney.  125-165 

CHAPTER  Y. 

Village  and  Town  Elections  1846-49  —  Water  Power  —  Celebra¬ 
tion,  July  4,  1846 —  Public  Cemetery  —  Dr.  C.  B.  Chapman’s  and 
J.  T.  Clark’s  Reminiscences  —  Hope  Lodge  I.  O.  O.  F.  —  Knapp’s 
Account  of  Capitol  Grounds  —  L.  J.  Farwell’s  Arrival  —  First 
Bell  in  Madison  —  Organization  of  Baptist  Church  1847  — 
Trial  of  Gross  for  Murder  —  Growth  of  Village,  1848  — 
State  Historical  Society,  1849  —  State  University.  166-203 

CHAPTER  YI. 

FIyer’s  Reminiscences  of  Covalle,  Pinneo,  Ubeldeen,  Tom  Jackson, 
Judges  Frazer  and  Irvin — Knapp’s  Notice  of  Irvin — A  Leaf  of 
Western  History  —  University  Property  and  Improvements  — 
Elections,  1850-3  —  Gov.  Farwell’s  Improvements  —  Schools, 
1850-3  —  Newspapers  —  Madison  Mutual  Insurance  Company — 
Fourth  of  July  —  Presbyterian  Church  Organization  and 
History  —  Capitol  House  —  Public  Improvements,  1852-4 — Bap- 
t  Church  Erected — R.  Catholic  Church — Madison  Institute 
^tg  of  Railroad  to  Milwaukee  —  Bruen’s  Block  —  Lake 
Cure  —  Statistics.  204-243 

CHAPTER  VII. 

t  1855.  —  Elections  1855-’61  —  GasLight 
Church  —  Schools,  1855-6  —  Public  and 
-Congregational  Church — National 
Madison  Incorporated  as  a  City, 
at  Beds  —  City  Hall  — University 
s'sane  Commenced,  and  New  State 
zation  of  Military  Companies  — 
erland  —  Of  Col.  James  Mor- 
31.  244-284 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


7 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


Rebellion  History,  continued — Death  of  Gov.  Harvey  —  Elec^ 
tions,  1862-69  —  Public  Schools,  1862-69  —  Old  Capitol  Demol¬ 
ished,  and  South  Wing  Built —  State  Historical  Society  His¬ 
tory  —  Death  of  Nathaniel  Ames  —  Steam  Navigation  —  Busi¬ 
ness  Statistics,  1865-68 — History  of  Governor’s  Guard  —  Ar¬ 
tesian  Well  —  National  Anniversaries,  1867-70 — U.  States 
Court  House  —  Public  and  Private  Improvements.  285-826 


CHAPTER  IX. 


Efforts  to  Remove  the  State  Capital  —  Notice  of  Col.  Bird  — 
History  of  Grace  Church,  continued  —  Park  Hotel  Com¬ 
pany —  University  Ward  School  House  —  “State  Journal’* 
Reminiscences  —  Public  Improvements,  1870-4  —  Female  Col¬ 
lege  — Schools  —  National  Anniversary  —  Railroad  Enter¬ 
prises —  The  Messersmith  House — Yacht  and  Boat  Clubs  — 
Notice  of  John  Stoner  —  Presbyterian  Church  Improve¬ 
ments —  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  —  Artesian  Well  — 
High  School  Building  —  Elections,  1870-4  —  Grace  Church 
Chimes  —  Congregational  Church  Building  —  Dane  County 
Cave  —  Conclusion.  327-381 


APPENDIX 


Madison  City  Officers. 


383-390 


Dane  County  and  Towns. 


391-41$ 


MADISON 


AND  THE 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Aboriginal  and  French  History  —  Antiquities  —  Arrival  of 
Ebenezer  Brigham  —  The  Blue  Mounds — Visit  of  Messrs. 
Doty,  Baird  and  Martin,  1828  —  The  Four  Lakes  —  Indian 
Troubles  at  Blue  Mounds  —  The  Black  Hawk  War  —  Wake¬ 
field’s  Account  of  Four  Lake  Country  —  Capt.  Low’s  Visit  — 
Early  Traders:  Armel,  Rowan,  Rasdall,  St.  Cyr  —  Col.  Wm. 
B.  Slaughter — Surveys  by  J.  V.  Suydam  —  Topographical 
Description  of  Madison  —  Hon.  John  Catlin’s  Reminiscences. 

It  would  be  interesting,  if  not  profitable,  to  know  when  and 
through  whom  the  section  of  country  now  occupied  by  the 
city  of  Madison  and  adjoining  the  Four  Lakes,  was  first  made 
known  to  Europeans ;  but .  it  is  one  of  those  questions  much 
easier  asked  than  answered. 

Wisconsin,  it  is  well  known,  was  visited  at  an  early  date  by 
the  Jesuit  Fathers,  and  a  mission  established  at  the  Rapids  de 
Pere,  on  the  Fox  river,  near  Green  Bay,  in  1669.  In  June, 
1673,  the  Upper  Mississippi  river  was  discovered  by  Father 
Marquette  and  his  companion  Joliet,  who  passed  up  the  Fox 
and  down  the  Wisconsin  rivers  to  the  Mississippi.  This  was 
the  great  thoroughfare  through  Wisconsin  for  a  long  period 
but  we  do  not  find  any  record  of  explorations  to  the  north  or 


10 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


south  of  those  streams,  until  Capt.  Jona.  Carver  passed  down 
the  Wisconsin  to  the  “Great  Town  of  the  Saukies,  ”  Prairie 
du  Sac,  in  October,  1766,  and  while  at  that  place  made  an  ex¬ 
cursion  to  what  he  calls  “some  mountains  that  lie  about  fifteen 
miles  to  the  southward,  and  abound  in  lead  ore.”  These  moun¬ 
tains  are  now  known  as  the  “  Blue  Mounds.” 

There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  “Four  Lake  Coun¬ 
try”  was  not  unknown  to  the  French  traders  soon  after  a  trad¬ 
ing  post  was  established  at  Green  Bay;  and  it  is  a  well  estab¬ 
lished  fact  that,  early  as  1655,  there  were  Frenchmen  engaged 
in  trade  at  that  point;  and,  wherever  there  is  a  reasonable 
prospect  of  gain,  there  will  be  found  the  hardy  adventurer, 
however  difficult  the  path  or  dangerous  the  road. 

These  traders  and  their  employes,  while  collecting  peltries, 
visited  every  available  location,  and  it  is  not  a  reasonable  sup¬ 
position  that  this  rich  section  of  country,  abounding  with 
lakes  the  favorite  abode  of  fur-bearing  animals,  should  have 
been  overlooked  or  unknown.  Again,  it  was  the  interest  of 
these  persons  to  keep  the  knowledge  they  had  acquired  to 
themselves  for  their  own  particular  benefit;  and,  in  connection 
with  this  subject,  Capt.  Carver  in  his  narrative*  says:  “I  can¬ 
not  help  remarking  that  all  the  maps  of  these  parts  I  have 
ever  seen  are  very  erroneous  —  the  rivers,  in  general,  running 
in  different  directions  from  what  they  really  do,  etc.  Whether 
this  is  done  by  the  French  geographers  (for  all  English  maps 
are  copied  from  theirs)  through  design,  or  for  a  want  of  a*  just 
knowledge  of  the  country,  I  cannot  say.”  Some  of  these  maps 
would  indicate  that  the  country  south  of  the  Wisconsin  was 
generally  swampy,  and  apparently  of  little  value. 

“These  singular  men,  the  trappers,”  says  Hon.  J.  Y.  Smith, 
“  were  shrewdly  silent  in  regard  to  their  wanderings  and  ex¬ 
plorations,  especially  when  they  extended  to  beautiful  and  fer¬ 
tile  regions.  It  was  part  of  their  policy  to  discourage  immi¬ 
gration  of  those  who  were  devoted  to  industrial  pursuits,  as 
they  anticipated  therefrom  competition  and  the  general  decline 

*  “  Travels  in  the  Interior  Parts  of  North  America  in  1766,  ’67  and  ’68, 
by  Capt.  J.  Carver.  London.  1778.  8vo.” 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


11 


of  their  trade  which  must  inevitably  follow  upon  the  settle¬ 
ment  of  the  country.” 

The  Four  Lake  Country,  we  also  know,  was  the  favored 
locality  of  that  mysterious  race  who  long  since  inhabited  this 
state,  and  who  have  left  behind  those  remarkable  mounds  and 
earth-works,  fortifications  and  embankments  which  are  found 
in  the  most  beautiful  locations  in  .this  vicinity. 

I.  A.  Lapham,  LL.D.,  in  his  valuable  work  on  the  Antiquities 
of  Wisconsin,  refers  to  some  of  these  mounds,  and  as  they  are 
fast  disappearing,  and  some  of  them  no  longer  in  existence,  his 
account  will  prove  interesting: 

“In  the  vicinity  of  the  Four  Lakes,  where  Madison,  the 
capital  of  the  state  is  situated,  the  mound-builders  have  left 
unusually  numerous  traces  of  their  former  occupancy  and  in¬ 
dustry.  These  lakes  are  united  by  a  stream  called  the  Catfish, 
now  known  as  Yahara,  through  which  the  waters  are  con¬ 
veyed  to  the  Rock  river.  The  mounds,  situated  six  and  twelve 
miles  west  of  the  Four  Lakes,  were  among  the  first  of  the  ani¬ 
mal-shaped  mounds  of  which  an  account  was  published  in 
Silliman’s  Amer.  Jour.,  Yol.  XXXIY,  etc.  A  figure  on  the 
Third  Lake  (Monona),  near  the  residence  of  Ex-Gov.  Fairchild, 
was  fortunately  rescued  from  oblivion  by  Mr.  F.  Hudsoh,  in 
1842.  Its  length  was  318  feet,  and  shape  of  a  lizard.  In  grad¬ 
ing  Wisconsin  avenue  and  Wilson  street  it  had  to  be  removed. 
On  the  north  side  of  Lake  Wingra,  on  the  road  to  Monroe, 
there  is  an  irregular  row  of  mounds,  comprising  two  quadru¬ 
peds,  one  bird,  and  one  mound  with  lateral  projections,  five 
oblong  and  twenty-seven  circular  tumuli.” 

Accurate  drawings  and  surveys  of  these  and  other  mounds 
in  this  vicinity  are  given  in  Dr.  Lapham’s  valuable  work. 

The  Sac  and  F ox  nations  of  Indians  were  for  a  long  period 
the  occupants  of  the  Fox  river  valley  county  and  of  the  Wis¬ 
consin,  before  the  permanent  settlement  was  made.  They  were 
a  warlike  race  of  old,  as  we  know  that  nearly  two  hundred 
years  since,  the  French  who  had  rarely  become  involved  with 
the  aborigines,  were  obliged  by  force  of  arms  to  wrest  from 
them  the  privilege  of  transit  between  Green  Bay  and  the  Mis- 


12 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


sissippi.  The  lakes  were  their  favorite  resort  owing  undoubt¬ 
edly  to  the  abundance  of  fish  and  water  fowl ;  the  shallow  bays 
were  literally  covered  spring  and  autumn  with  myriads  of 
ducks.  The  larger  game  of  deer  were  numerous,  and  the  marshes* 
afforded  abundance  of  peltry. 

The  ground  upon  which  Madison  is  built,  was  in  common 
with  most  of  the  region  included  between  the  Mississippi  and 
the  Wisconsin  and  Rock  rivers,  purchased  from  the  nations  in 
1825,  at  which  time  they  relinquished  all  claim  to  lands  east  of 
the  Mississippi.  These  Indians  were  reputed  among  the  early 
settlers  to  be  peculiarly  faithless  and  savage.  They  seemed  to 
have  repented  the  surrender  of  their  old  hunting  grounds,  and 
in  1881  we  find  them  again  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  greatly 
annoying  the  settlers  and  destroying  much  property.  They 
were  speedily  driven  back,  and  entered  into  a  new  treaty  with 
the  United  States,  the  terms  of  which  were  much  the  same  as 
those  of  the  treaty  of  1825.  The  next  year  they  again  returned 
to  the  east  side  of  the  river,  and  shortly  after  took  place  what 
is  usually  known  as  the  “Winnebago  Outbreak,”  succeeded 
by  the  Black  Hawk  War ;  after  which  the  Indians  were 
again  and  permanently  removed  to  the  west,  and  tranquility 
ensued. 

The  first  pioneer  settler  within  the  present  county  of  Dane, 
was  Colonel  Ebemezer  Brigham.  This  gentleman  was  so 
identified  with  our  history,  that  it  is  necessary  to  give  a  me¬ 
moir  of  his  life  and  the  events  connected  therewith.  Ho  one 
ever  lived  in  this  section  that  was  better  known  or  more  highly 
appreciated  than  Col.  Brigham.  He  died  at  Madison,  Septem¬ 
ber  11,  1861,  in  the  72d  year  of  his  age. 

Ebehezer  Brigham  was  born  at  Shrewsbury,  Worcester 
county,  Mass.,  April  28,  1789.  In  1818  he  came  to  Olean  Point 
in  the  State  of  Hew  York.  The  Alleghany  river  was  then  the 
only  channel  known  through  western  Hew  York,  and  that  was 
only  navigated  by  canoes,  rafts  or  skiffs.  He  came  through  in 
a  canoe,  and  at  Pittsburgh  took  a  flat  boat  down  the  Ohio 
river.  The  villages  on  the  river  were  all  small.  During  the 
journey  down  he  saw  but  one  steamboat.  On  arriving  at 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


13 


Shawnee  town,  he  landed  and  walked  through  to  St.  Louis. 
There  was  nothing  at  that  place  hut  a  small  French  settlement 
—  not  more  than  three  or  four  brick  houses  in  the  town.  In 
1822  he  first  set  foot  upon  Wisconsin  soil,  but  not  to  remain. 
At  Galena  he  found  Col.  James  Johhsom,  a  brother  of  Col. 
Richard  M.  Johhsoh,  who  was  just  opening  the  mines,  and 
subsequently  he  spent  a  short  time  at  Springfield.  In  1827  he 
embarked  for  Wisconsin  with  an  ox  team.  At  that  time  there 
was  a  large  emigration  to  the  lead  mines,  in  the  southwestern 
part  of  the  state,  as  the  ore  was  abundant  and  the  price  remunera¬ 
tive.  He  remained  a  while  near  Platteville  and  was  engaged  in 
mining,  and  with  a  small  party  pitched  his  tent  (so  to  speak) 
on  what  is  now  the  Block  House  branch  of  the  Platte  river. 
From  this  point  the  party  retreated  in  haste  to  Galena,  owing 
to  the  commencement  of  hostilities  by  the  Indians.  In  the 
spring  of  1828  he  removed  to  Blue  Mounds,  the  most  advanced 
outpost  in  the  mines.  The  only  source  of  food  supply  was 
from  Galena.  Soon  after  he  had  raised  his  cabin  he  took  a  trip 
with  two  companions  to  Fort  Winnebago  to  ascertain  whether 
food  could  not  be  more  easily  obtained  at  that  point.  The  route 
taken,  was  north  of  Fourth  Lake,  probably  on  or  near  the  line 
of  the  old  military  road  afterwards  laid  out.  They  obtained  a 
supply  of  salt  pork,  hard  bread,  powder  and  some  other  things, 
of  a  sutler,  not  loading  heavily,  and  on  the  return  struck  south, 
striking  the  old  trail  that  formerly  ran  between  the  Third  and 
Fourth  Lakes,  following  it  up  to  the  hill  where  the  capitol  now 
stands,  where  they  encamped  over  night.  Intercourse  with 
the  Indians  had  made  known  to  them  the  existence  of  the  lake 
region  before  they  started.  From  the  enchanting  view  of  the 
spot,  he  predicted  that  a  village  would  be  built  there,  and  prob¬ 
ably  the  future  capital  of  the  Territory.  The  isolated  condition 
where  he  settled  will  be  apparent  from  the  statement  of  a  few 
facts.  The  nearest  settler  was  at  what  is  now  Dodgeville.  Min¬ 
eral  Point  and  other  mining  places  where  villages  have  since 
grown  up,  had  not  then  been  discovered.  On  the  southeast  the 
nearest  house  was  on  the  O’Plaine  river,  twelve  miles  west  of 
Chicago.  On  the  east,  Solomoh  Juheau  was  his  nearest  neigh- 


14 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


bor  at  the  mouth  of  Milwaukee  river,  and  on  the  northeast, 
Green  Bay  was  the  nearest  settlement. 

Shortly  after  locating  at  the  Mounds,  Mr.  Brigham,  in  com¬ 
pany  with  Col.  Wm.  S.  Hamilton  and  M.  Gratiot  and  some 
others,  visited  Green  Bay  in  order  to  settle  on  certain  bounda¬ 
ries  between  the  whites  and  the  Indians.  The  line  was  fixed 
upon,  and  the  Indians  blazed  the  trees  along  this  line,  notify- 
fying  the  whites  not  to  pass  it,  a  prohibition  about  as  effectual 
as  the  whistling  of  the  wind. 

For  several  years  after  his  coming,  the  savages  were  the  sole 
lords  of  the  soil;  a  large  Indian  village  stood  near  the  mouth 
of  Token  Creek;  another  stood  on  the  ridge  between  Second 
and  Third  Lakes,  and  their  wigwams  were  scattered  all  along 
the  streams.  When  the  capital  was  located  here,  he  was  the 
nearest  settler  to  it,  though  twenty-five  miles  distant. 

Soon  after  his  settlement,  he  was  honored  with  the  appoint¬ 
ment  of  magistrate  from  Governor  Lewis  Cass.  He  held  this 
commission  four  years,  and  all  the  duty  he  performed  during 
that  time  was  to  marry  one  couple.  He  often  related  an  anec¬ 
dote  of  being  called  upon  to  go  some  thirty  miles  to  marry  a 
couple,  but  on  arriving  within  a  short  distance  of  the  place, 
word  had  been  left  there  that  the  fair  lady  had  changed  her 
mind,  and  he  must  not  come  any  farther.  Mr.  Brigham,  how¬ 
ever,  went  on  and  introduced  another  friend,  who  succeeded  in 
making  a  contract,  and  the  next  spring  he  was  called  upon  to 
ratify  it,  and  this  was  the  only  official  act  of  a  four  years  term 
of  justice  of  the  peace. 

The  principal  object  of  his  location  at  this  point,  as  before 
stated,  was  mining  for  lead,  and  at  the  same  time  cultivating 
the  soil.  One  of  the  leads  on  his  land  was  “  proved 11  before 
his  death  to  the  depth  of  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  feet  when 
the  workmen  were  prevented  by  water  from  going  deeper.  Up¬ 
wards  of  four  million  pounds  were  taken  from  this  lead  with 
no  other  machinery  than  the  common  windlass,  rope  and  tub. 
This  lead  was  hauled  to  Green  Bay,  Chicago  and  Galena.  On 
his  first  trip  to  Chicago,  there  was  not  a  house  or  wagon  track 
between  that  place  and  Blue  Mounds.  He  was  fifteen  days  in 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


15 


reaching  his  destination,  fording  with  his  oxen  and  load  of 
lead  the  Rock  and  Fox  rivers  and  the  smaller  streams  on  the 
ronte.  In  this  expedition  he  was  accompanied  by  a  favorite 
dog,  for  which  he  was  offered  in  Chicago  a  village  lot,  which 
was  situated  where  now  is  the  most  valuable  property  in  that 
city.  In  those  days  the  whole  site  of  the  town  could  have 
been  purchased  for  a  few  hundred  dollars. 

Col.  Brigham,  at  the  organization  of  the  territorial  govern¬ 
ment,  was  elected  a  member  of  the  council,  and  was  re-elected, 
serving  nine  terms,  from  1836  to  1841.  When  the  state 
government  was  organized,  1848,  he  was  elected  a  member  of 
assembly.  He  died  at  the  residence  of  his  niece,  Mrs.  H.  G. 
Bliss,  at  Madison,  September  14,  1861,  aged  seventy-two 
years. 

A  short  description  of  the  Four  Lakes,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Madison,  and  the  Blue  Mounds,  may  prove  of  service,  taken 
from  I.  A.  Lapham’s  u  History  of  Wisconsin: 11 

There  are  in  all,  twelve  lakes  in  Dane  county  —  but  the 
principal,  and  those  most  attractive,  are  the  Four  Lakes,  lying 
in  the  valley  of  the  Cat  Fish  or  Yahara,  and  nearly  in  a  direct 
line  from  northwest  to  southeast. 

Kegohsa,  or  First  Lake. — This  lake  is  the  lowest  of  the 
four.  Its  longest  diameter  is  three  and  one-eighth  miles  by 
two  miles  in  its  shortest ;  its  circumference  is  nine  and  a  half 
miles,  and  it  covers  five  square  miles.  It  is  situated  nine  miles 
above  Dunkirk  Falls,  near  the  southern  line  of  the  county,  and 
lies  in  the  towns  of  Dunn  and  Pleasant  Springs. 

Waubesa,  or  Secohd  Lake. — This  body  of  water  lies  three 
and  a  half  miles  above  Kegonsa.  Its  length  is  three  and 
a  half  miles,  and  its  width  about  two;  and  with  it,  has  an 
average  depth  of  about  twelve  feet.  The  larger  part  is  in  the 
town  of  Dunn,  and  the  remainder  in  Blooming-Grove. 

Mokona,  or  Third  Lake,  is  next  above,  at  a  distance  of 
seven-eighths  of  a  mile.  It  is  about  six  and  a  half  miles  long, 
by  two  broad,  occupying  an  area  of  six  square  miles.  Madison, 
the  County  Seat  and  Capital  of  the  State,  is  located  on  the  strip 
of  land  about  one  mile  across,  between  this  and  Lake  Mendota. 


16 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


The  larger  part  is  in  the  town  of  Blooming-Grove  and  the 
remainder  in  Madison. 

Mehdota,  or  Fourth  Lake. — This  is  the  uppermost  and  by 
far  the  largest  of  the  Four  Lakes.  It  has  a  periphery  of  nine¬ 
teen  and  one-fourth  miles,  and  covers  an  area  of  fifteen  and 
sixty-five  one  hundreths  square  miles.  Its  diameter  is  six  miles 
by  nine.  The  larger  part  is  in  the  town  Madison  and  the 
remainder  in  Westport. 

Each  lake  is  surrounded  by  a  broad  valley,  which,  with  the 
bottom  lands  bordering  upon  the  numerous  small  streams, 
flowing  into  them,  on  all  sides,  forms  a  portion  of  agricultural 
country  of  unsurpassed  fertility. 

The  water  of  all  these  lakes,  coming  from  springs,  is  cold 
and  clear  to  a  remarkable  degree.  For  the  most  part,  their 
shores  are  made  of  a  fine  gravel  shingle ;  and  their  bottoms, 
which  are  visible  at  a  great  depth,  are  composed  of  white  sand, 
interspersed  with  granite  boulders.  Their  banks,  with  few 
exceptions,  are  bold.  A  jaunt  upon  them  affords  almost  every 
variety  of  scenery  —  bold  escarpments  and  overhanging  cliffs, 
elevated  peaks,  and  gently-sloping  shores,  with  occasional 
strips  of  meadow  land  between,  affording  magnificent  views  of 
the  distant  prairies  and  openings. 

The  Blue  Moulds  are  two  conical  hills,  about  one  mile 
apart,  one  in  Iowa,  and  one,  the  largest,  in  Dane  county, 
twenty-five  miles  west  of  Madison,  and  twelve  miles  south  of 
the  Wisconsin  river. 

On  the  western  line  of  Dane  county,  the  highest  peak  rises 
to  an  altitude  of  1,931  feet  above  the  sea,  and  1,072.5  above 
the  lakes  at  Madison.  Going  west  from  the  city,  the  visitant 
passes  successively  across  the  out-crop  of  every  principal 
geological  deposite  in  the  state.  He  ascends  from  the  upper 
layers  of  the  lower  or  Potsdam  sandstone,  across  the  lower 
magnesian,  the  upper  or  ferruginous  sandstone,  the  blue  fossili- 
ferous  limestone,  the  upper  magnesian  or  lead-bearing  rock, 
and  ends  upon  the  crest  on  a  layer  of  some  four  hundred  feet 
thickness  of  hornstone  —  a  sharp,  siliceous  deposit  filled  with 
chest  nodules,  flint  and  fossilizations.  The  mounds  of  all  this 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


17 


region  owe  their  origin  to  erosion,  and  not  elevation.  They 
are  the  outliers  of  an  ancient  world  —  land-marks  of  ages  too 
remote  to  he  computed  by  years  —  boundaries  which  remain  to 
prove  the  existence  of  a  former  surface  over  all  southern  Wis¬ 
consin,  of  which  in  the  lapse  of  epochs  more  than  six  hundred 
feet  have  been  dissolved  and  carried  away  by  the  action  of  the 
elements.  The  Blue  Mounds  being  the  highest,  dominate  all 
others.  Sharp  cut  valleys  and  ravines  radiate  from  their  hoary 
sides  in  nearly  every  direction.  Springs  break  out  along  the 
margins  of  the  successive  layers,  and  streams  run  to  the  four 
points  of  the  compass.  It  is  the  source  and  parent  of  river 
and  rivulet,  seamed  by  many  a  scar,  but  beautiful  and  grand 
from  every  point  of  observation. 

The  elevation  of  the  mounds  is  such,  that  they  can  be  seen 
fifteen  to  twenty  miles  distant.  The  Indian  name  is  Mu-cha- 
wa-ku-nin,  or  the  Smoky  Mountains,  applied  to  them,  it  is 
said,  on  account  of  their  summits  being  usually  enveloped  in  a 
blue  haze.  The  following  is  a  geological  section  of  the 


eastern  mound,  as  reported  by  Dr.  Locke: 

Feet. 

Corniferous  rock  forming  the  peak  of  the  mound,  -  410 

Geodiferous  Lime  rock  or  lead  bearing  rock,  -  169 

Saccharoid  Sandstone,  -  -  -  -  -  40 

Alternations  of  Sandstone  and  Limestone,  -  188 

Sandstone,  3 

Lower  Limestone  at  the  level  of  the  Wisconsin,  -  190 

Total,  -  1,000 


—  LapTiani  s  History  of  Wisconsin. 

In  the  month  of  May,  1829,  Hon.  James  Duake  Doty,  * 
Judge  of  the  U.  S.  Court,  Hehry  S.  Baird  and  Morgak  L. 
Martim  Esqrs,  attorneys  of  Green  Bay,  performed  a  journey  to 
Prairie  du  Chien  on  horseback.  These  gentlemen  had  in  1825, 
’26,  ’27  and  ’28  taken  the  same  trip  by  water,  by  the  way  of  the 
Fox  and  Wisconsin  rivers,  which  was  then  the  usual  and  only 

*  For  an  interesting  paper  on  the  “Life  and  Public  Services  of  Gov. 
Doty,”  by  Gen.  A.  G.  Ellis,  see  Collections  State  Historical  Society  of 
Wisconsin,  Vol.  5,  p.  369-377. 


18 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


mode  of  communication  between  the  two  places.  At  the  time 
above  alluded,  to  they  were  anxious  to  obtain  a  knowledge  of 
the  country  outside  of  this  route,  and  of  which  no  one  had 
previously  written.  They  were  accompanied  by  a  Menomonee 
Indian  as  guide  who  led  or  rode  a  pack  horse.  Their  route  was 
not  a  direct  one,  as  the  Indian  was  not  well  acquainted  with 
the  country  west  of  Lake  Winnebago,  following  the  Indian 
trails  as  far  as  practicable,  they  traveled  on  the  east  side  of  that 
Lake  to  Fond  du  Lac,  thence  by  way  of  Green  Lake  to  the  Four 
Lakes,  crossing  the  outlet  between  the  Second  and  Third  Lakes, 
the  site  of  Madison,  the  Blue  Mounds,  Dodgeville,  and  crossed 
the  Wisconsin  about  six  miles  above  its  confluence  with  the 
Mississippi.  They  were  about  seven  days  in  making  the  jour¬ 
ney,  and  saw  no  white  people  until  they  reached  Blue  Mounds. 
This  was  the  first  party  of  whites  that  had  attempted  and  accom¬ 
plished  the  land  journey  from  Green  Bay  to  the  Mississippi. 

Attracted  doubtless  by  the  beauty  of  the  location,  as  well  as 
other  considerations,  Judge  Doty  made  another  excursion  to 
this  place  in  1832,  after  the  termination  of  the  Black  Hawk 
war.  It  was  very  evident  that  with  his  usual  foresight  he  was 
impressed  as  was  Col.  Brigaam  with  its  desirability  for  a  future 
town. 

The  year  1832  was  memorable  for  the  war  of  the  Sacs  and 
Foxes  under  Black'  Hawk  against  the  whites,  and  as  Blue 
Mounds  and  the  Four  Lake  Country  were  intimately  connected 
with  the  movements  of  the  army  and  the  flight  of  the  Indians, 
it  will  be  necessary  to  give  a  statement  of  the  events  occurring 
at  that  time  as  far  as  these  localities  were  concerned. 

In  the  spring  of  that  year  (1832)  the  Winnebagoes  were  pro¬ 
fessedly  friendly,  but  they  could  not  be  depended  on  in  case  of 
reverses  from  the  Sacs  and  Foxes.  To  guard  against  surprise, 
Col.  Brigham  and  the  settlers  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Blue 
Mounds,  built  a  block  house  in  a  commanding  position  on  the 
prairie  near  the  mounds,  and  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the 
Colonel’s  residence.  The  buildings  were  commenced  May  10,  and 
completed  about  the  24th,  and  consisted  of  two  block  houses 
each  about  twenty  feet  square  and  a  log  building  in  the  centre 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


19 


about  thirty  feet  by  twenty  feet  large  for  a  store  house  and  bar¬ 
rack.  The  whole  was  enclosed  by  a  picket  fence  of  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  on  each  of  the  four  sides — the  pickets 
were  of  stout  oak  about  sixteen  feet  high,  planted  about  three 
feet  in  the  ground.  James  Aubrey  had  the  first  command  of 
ffhe  men  assembled  at  the  fort;  E.  Beouchard,  1st  Lieutenant, 
and  after  Aubrey’s  death,  succeeded  to  the  command  until 
June  14  when  he  resigned  and  was  succeeded  by  Capt.  John 
Sherman.  On  the  6th  of  June,  Aubrey  was  killed  as  will  pres¬ 
ently  be  noticed;  at  this  time  there  were  in  the  fort,  the  fam¬ 
ilies  of  all  the  settlers  in  the  neighborhood,  as  no  one  knew  how 
long  they  would  be  free  from  attack. 

In  the  latter  part  of  May,  Col.  H.  Dodge  assembled  a  com¬ 
pany  of  fifty  mounted  volunteers  commanded  by  Jas.  H.  Gen¬ 
try  and  John  H.  Rountree  and  proceeded  with  them  to  the 
head  of  the  Four  Lakes  where,  on  the  25th  of  the  month,  he 
held  a  talk  with  the  Winnebagoes,  desiring  to  know  their  in¬ 
tentions  as  to  the  Sacs,  whether  or  not  they  would  aid,  counsel 
or  harbor  them  in  their  country  (that  nation  then  had  nominal 
possession  of  the  Four  Lake  region);  if  they  would,  it  would 
be  considered  as  a  declaration  of  war  on  their  part;  informing 
them  that  the  Sacs  had  lied  to  them  and  given  them  bad  coun¬ 
sel,  and  that  if  tliey^  were  unfaithful  to  the  treaties,  they  must 
expect  to  share  the  fate  of  the  Sacs.  To  all  which  the  Winne¬ 
bagoes  made  fair,  promises  and  agreed  to  remain  at  peace. 

About  the  first  of  June,  Capt.  Sherman  who  commanded  at 
Mound  Fort,  fearing  an  attack  from  the  Indians,  sent  word  of 
his  apprehensions  to  Col.  Dodge,  who  immediately  collected 
from  the  several  posts,  of  which  there  were  twelve  or  more  in 
the  mining  districts,  some  two  hundred  mounted  men.  They 
proceeded  to  Mound  Fort  on  the  3d  of  June,  on  which  day  the 
two  Misses  Hall,  who  had  been  captured  by  the  Sacs  at  the 
massacre  on  Fox  river,  were  delivered  up  by  the  Winnebagoes 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  reward  which  had  been  offered 
by  Gen.  Atkinson  for  their  recovery. 

On  the  6th  of  June,  James  Aubrey,  an  inmate  of  Col.  Brig¬ 
ham’s  family,  was  killed  by  the  Sacs  while  getting  water  at 


20 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


tlie  spring  near  the  dwelling-house ;  this  was  about  a  mile  and 
a  half  north  of  the  fort,  hut  in  sight  of  it.  It  has  since  been 
ascertained  that  the  Sacs  had  been  piloted  to  this  place  by  cer¬ 
tain  Winnebagoes.  Suspicion  ever  attached  to  this  treacher¬ 
ous  people. 

On  the  20th  of  June,  some  Indians  were  discovered  in  the% 
vicinity  of  Mound  Fort,  and  Lieut.  Wm.  Foece  and  a  person  of 
the  name  of  GrBEEiT,  whose  family  was  in  the  fort,  mounted 
their  horses  and  rode  out  to  reconnoitre.  In  a  short  time  they 
fell  into  an  ambush  of  the  Sacs,  about  two  miles  in  front,  and 
immediately  in  view  of  the  fort.  The  unfortunate  men  were 
plainly  seen  endeavoring  to  escape  to  the  fort,  hut  they  were 
soon  surrounded  and  killed  by  the  savages,  who  mutilated 
the  bodies  in  a  most  horrible  manner.  Lieut.  Foece  had  a 
heavy  gold  watch  by  which  the  hours  of  standing  guard  were 
regulated;  at  the  time  he  was  killed  it  was  in  his  pocket,  and 
was  taken  —  his  body  being  chopped  in  pieces  and  scattered 
about  the  prairie.  Shortly  after,  an  Indian  trader  named 
Wallis  Roway,  who  will  be  noticed  hereafter,  was  out  on  the 
trail,  picked  up  five  or  six  Indian  saddles,  the.  horses  having 
given  out  in  the  retreat.  On  coming  up  to  the  body  of  this 
savage,  he  found  the  prairie  tire  had  passed  over  it,  consuming 
his  pack  and  clothing.  The  watch  of  Foece  was  found  in  the 
asheskmd  identified  by  Mr.  Bbigham  a  few  days  after.  Rowak 
kept  the  watch  over  ten  years  before  finally  parting  with  it. 

In  the  march  of  the  command  under  Henby  and  Dodge  in 
pursuit  of  the  Indians,  the  detachment  crossed  the  Crawfish 
river  near  Aztalan,  and  followed  the  trail  until  the  high 
grounds  between  the  Third  and  Fourth  Lakes,  the  capitol 
grounds  and  the  site  of  Madison,  were  reached,  and  struck  the 
north  end  of  Third  Lake.  In  the  timber  between  Glen.  Simeon 
Mills1  country  residence  and  the  Catfish  bridge,  then  the 
ford,  they  overtook  the  rear  guard  of  the  flying  foe,  where  an 
Indian  was  wounded,  who  crept  away  and  hid  himself  in  the 
thick  willows,  where  he  died. 

A  scouting  party  of  fourteen  men,  one  of  whom  was  Abel 
Rasdall,  who  will  hereafter  be  noticed,  was  sent  forward  by 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


21 


Col.  Dodge,  and  preceded  tlie  main  body  about  two  miles,  wlio 
crossed  the  Catfish  just  below  where  the  bridge  leading  out  of 
Williamson  street,  Madison,  now  stands.  When  they  arrived 
at  the  point  where  Parker’s  planing  mill  stood,  since  occupied 
by  Billihgs  &  Carmah  as  a  plow  factory,  an  Indian  was  seen 
coming  up  from  the  water’s  edge,  near  the  present  watering 
place  below  the  Lake,  now  Meredith,  House,  who  seated  himself 
upon  the  bank,  apparently  indifferent  to  his  fate.  In  a  moment 
after,  his  body  was  pierced  with  bullets,  one  of  which  passed  in 
at  the  temple  and  out  of  the  back  part  of  his  head.  On  ex¬ 
amination,  it  was  found  that  he  was  sitting  upon  a  newly  made 
grave,  probably  that  of  his  wife  who  had  perhaps  died  of  fa¬ 
tigue,  hunger  and  exhaustion,  and  her  disconsolate  companion 
had  resolved  to  await  the  advancing  foe  and  die  there  also. 

The  trail  was  followed  around  the  southern  end  of  Fourth 
Lake,  passing  a  little  north  of  the  Capitol  Park  and  along  the 
lake  near  the  State  University,  where  it  appeared  that  an  ad¬ 
mirable  position  for  a  battle-field,  with  natural  defenses  and 
places  of  ambush,  had  been  chosen  by  the  enemy;  and  here 
they  had  apparently  lain  the  previous  night.  This  place  was 
near  Col.  W.  B.  Slaughter’s  farm,  afterwards  laid  out  as  the 
City  of  the  Four  Lakes,  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  north  of 
the  present  village  of  Pheasant  Branch. 

Of  the  further  movements  of  the  army,  it  is  only  necessary 
to  say,  that  the  pursuit  continued  July  21,  with  occasional 
glimpses  of  straggling  Indians,  some  of  whom  were  killed, 
until  about  five  o’clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  Wisconsin 
river  bluff  was  reached,  and  a  battle  took  place,  when  about 
sixty  were  killed,  and  a  great  number  of  bodies  were  afterwards 
found  on  the  northern  side  of  the  Wisconsin,  on  the  route  to 
Bad-Axe.  The  loss  on  the  part  of  the  whites,  was  one  killed, 
and  eight  wounded.  On  the  2d  of  August  the  battle  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Bad-Axe  river  took  place,  which  resulted  in  the 
total  destruction  of  a  very  large  portion  of  Black  Hawk’s  fol¬ 
lowers  —  men,  women  and  children  —  and  the  capture  and  dis¬ 
persion  of  the  remainder.  Black  Hawk  soon  after  surrendered 
himself  to  the  Chiefs  Cha-e-tar  and  Oxe-eyed  Decorra,  who 


22 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


brought  him  and  the  Prophet  afterwards  to  Prairie  du  Chien, 
and  delivered  them  to  Gen.  Street,  agent  of  the  Winnebagoes, 
on  the  27th  of  August,  thus  terminating  the  war  much  to  the 
satisfaction  of  everyone. 

In  the  month  of  September  of  this  year,  Col.  Chas.  Whit¬ 
tlesey,  now  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  made  a  journey  from  Green 
Bay  to  Fort  Winnebago,  and  thence  to  Galena,  an  account  of 
which  can  be  found  in  Yol.  I,  Collections  of  State  Histori¬ 
cal  Society  of  Wisconsin.  He  passed  around  the  northern 
shores  of  Fourth  Lake  to  Blue  Mounds,  and  thence  to  his 
destination. 

A  correspondent  of  the  “Madison  Democrat”  writes  from 
Cadiz,  Wis.,  July  1,  1871,  and  gives  some  reminiscences  of  his 
experiences  in  the  United  States  army  in  1832-8  in  Illinois  and 
Wisconsin,  after  the  conclusion  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  from 
which  the  following  extracts  are  made:  “His  company,  after 
the  treaty  with  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  at  Bock  Island,  September 
25,  1832,  received  orders  to  go  into  winter  quarters  at  Danville, 
Ill.,  where  it  remained  until  April  13,  1833.  From  that  place 
it  proceeded  to  Dodgeville,  where  the  writer  found  a  cluster  of 
eight  or  ten  log  cabins,  and  where  he  met  Col.  Henry  Dodge. 
After  remaining  there  a  week  the  company  started  for  Fort 
Winnebago  via  Blue  Mounds.  Here  he  found  a  block-house, 
but  the  people  had  all  left  on  account  of  the  Indians,  who  had 
killed  some  of  the  settlers.  From  here  he  went  to  the  north¬ 
west  side  of  Fourth  Lake,  and  encamped  for  a  few  days. 
Hear  the  encampment  lived  a  solitary  Frenchman  in  a  log 
cabin.  He,  with  Col.  Brigham,  was  the  population  of  Dane 
county  at  that  time.  Between  the  lake  and  Bellfountain,  a 
name  we  gave  the  place,  they  spent  sometime  resting  them¬ 
selves  and  horses ;  they  considered  the  country  utterly  worthless , 
and  thought  it  would  never  be  settled,  except  that  there  might 
be  a  settlement  sometime  at  Blue  Mounds,  and  one  at  Platte 
Mounds,  and  perhaps  a  small  settlement  at  the  Four  Lakes. 
The  company  resumed  its  march,  and,  on  the  ground  now  oc¬ 
cupied  by  Portage  City,  they  found  the  whole  Winnebago  tribe 
of  Indians  encamped.  The  company,  after  serving  out  the 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


23 


term  of  enlistment,  returned  to  Dodgeville,  and  were  discharged 
July  23,  1833.” 

In  the  year  1834,  J.  A.  Wakefield  prepared  and  published 
a  “  History  of  the  Black  Hawk  War,”  a  little  volume  which  is 
now  extremely  rare.  The  author  served  during  the  campaign. 
His  description  of  the  Four  Lakes  is  interesting,  and  is  here 
given : 

“  Here  it  may  not  he  uninteresting  to  the  reader  to  give  a 
small  outline  of  these  lakes.  From  a  description  of  the  coun¬ 
try,  a  person  would  very  naturally  suppose  that  those  lakes 
were  as  little  pleasing  to  the  eye  of  the  traveler  as  the  country 
is.  But  not  so.  I  think  they  are  the  most  beautiful  bodies  of 
water  I  ever  saw.  The  first  one  that  we  came  to,  was  about  ten 
miles  in  circumference,  and  the  water  as  clear  as  crystal.  The 
earth  sloped  back  in  a  gradual  rise ;  the  bottom  of  the  lake,  ap¬ 
peared  to  be  entirely  covered  with  white  pebbles,  and  no  appear¬ 
ance  of  its  being  the  least  swampy.  The  second  one  that  we 
came  to  appeared  to  be  much  larger.  It  must  have  been  twen¬ 
ty  miles  in  circumference.  The  ground  rose  very  high  all 
around;  and  the  heaviest  kind  of  timber  grew  close  to  the 
water’s  edge.  If  these  lakes  were  anywhere  else  except  in  the 
country  they  are,  they  would  be  considered  among  the  wonders 
of  the  world.  But  the  country  they  are  situated  in,  is  not  jit  for 
any  civilized  nation  of  people  to  inhabit.  It  appears  that  the 
Almighty  intended  it  for  the  children  of  the  forest.  The  other 
two  lakes  we  did  not  get  close  enough  to,  for  me  to  give  a  de¬ 
scription  of  them;  but  those  who  saw  them  stated  that  they 
were  very  much  like  the  others.” 

It  is  probable  that  Mr.  Wakefield  would  form  a  different 
idea  of  the  country  in  this  section,  if  he  could  see  it  at  the 
present  time.  Forty  years  have  made  great  changes,  and  lands 
which  he  thought  were  worthless  have  brought  one  hundred 
dollars  an  acre  and  upwards,  not  making  mention  of  lots  be¬ 
tween  the  Third  and  Fourth  Lakes,  now  occupied  by  the  city 
of  Madison. 

On  the  15th  and  16th  of  October  of  this  year,  1832,  Capt. 
Low,  of  Fort  Winnebago,  with  James  HALPinand  Archibald 


24 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AJSD  THE 


Crisman  encamped  on  Fourth  (Mendota)  Lake  ridge.  At  this 
time  about  five  hundred  Indians  were  located  between  the  site 
of  the  present  state  capitol  on  the  shores  of  the  lake.  These 
Indians  came  here  for  the  purpose  of  traffic  with  a  French 
trader  named  Louis  Armel.  Gapt.  Low  came  from  the  Fort  in 
pursuit  of  some  deserters  whom  they  readily  found,  as  they  had 
imbibed  too  freely  of  the  French  traders’  bad  whiskey  to  be 
well  qualified  to  secrete  themselves.  Mr.  Armel  had  his  goods 
in  a  temporary  Indian-built  hut  near  the  present  stone  resi¬ 
dence  of  J.  B.  Norton  on  Johnson  street. 

Another  trader  who  was  doing  business  in  this  section  in 
1832,  was  Wallace  Rowan,  a  rough  and  hardy  pioneer  who 
located  at  the  head  of  Mendota  Lake,  and  was  there  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  Black  Hawk  war;  reference  has  been  made 
to  his  finding  the  gold  watch  of  Lieut.  William  Force.  Not 
long  after  he  removed  to  Squaw  or  Strawberry  Point,  on 
the  eastern  bank  of  Lake  Monona,  and  with  William  B. 
Long  entered,  in  1835,  the  fractional  tract  embracing  the  point. 
He  wafe  afterwards  joined  by  Abraham  Wood;  but  selling  out 
his  fifty-two  acres  to  Col.  Wm.  B.  Slaughter,  March  28,  1838, 
he  removed  to  the  present- locality  of  Poynette,  where,  for  sev¬ 
eral  years  he  kept  a  house  of  entertainment,  and  still  later  to 
Baraboo,  where  he  and  Wood  built  a  mill,  and  where  he  died. 
Unlike  most  early  Indian  traders,  his  wife  was  a  white  woman. 

Another  of  the  early  traders  at  the  Four  Lakes,  was  Abel 
Rasdall,  who  from  his  long  residence  here  is  entitled  to  par¬ 
ticular  notice.  He  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  born  August  15, 
1805,  in  Barron  county,  son  of  Robert  and  Elizabeth  Ras¬ 
dall.  He  was  raised  a  farmer.  When  a  young  man  he  went 
to  Missouri  and  engaged  in  lead  mining,  and  in  1828  went 
to  Galena  and  assisted  awhile  the  late  Col.  James  Morri¬ 
son  in  his  mining  operations  at  Porter’s  Grove,  about  nine 
miles  west  of  Blue  Mounds,  and  soon  engaged  in  the  business 
of  an  Indian  trader,  locating  his  cabin  on  the  eastern  shore  of 
First  Lake,  about  a  half  mile  south  of  its  outlet.  He  married 
a  Winnebago  woman  by  whom  he  had  three  children,  and  was 
a  real  help-meet  to  him  in  the  Indian  trade,  and  accompanying 


JONES,  Photo, 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


25 


him  to  Fort  Winnebago  at  some  Indian  payment  there,  she 
sickened  and  died  of  small  pox,  Rasdall  alone  attending  her 
and  burying  her  remains.  He  had  been  vaccinated  when  young, 
and  did  not  take  the  disease.  He  subsequently  married  another 
Winnebago  woman;  they  had  no  issue,  and  when  her  people 
migrated  west,  she  concluded  to  go  with  them  —  so  Rasdall 
and  his  Indian  wife  cut  a  blanket  in  two,  each  taking  a  part, 
the  Indian  mode  of  divorce. 

Mr.  Rasdall’s  services  in  the  Black  Hawk  war  have  previ¬ 
ously  been  referred  to.  In  his  trading  with  the  Indians,  he  did 
not  by  any  means,  confine  himself  to  his  trading  establishment, 
but  would  pack  several  ponies  with  goods,  and  would  take  a 
tour  among  the  Indian  camps  and  settlements,  and  dicker  off 
his  goods  for  skins  and  furs.  He  obtained  his  goods  at  Galena, 
where  he  disposed  of  his  furs  and  peltry.  Hot  only  ponies 
were  used  for  packing  and  transporting  goods,  but  Indians  also. 

In  1846,  he  was  married  to  Mary  Anh  Pitcher,  in  Madison, 
by  whom  he  had  three  sons.  Mr.  Rasdall  died  at  his  home  at 
Token  Creek,  Dane  county,  Wis.,  June  6,  1857,  at  the  age  of 
nearly  52  years.  He  will  long  be  remembered  as  an  early  set¬ 
tler  of  Dane  county,  his  trading  adventures  around  the  Four 
Lakes  having  commenced  as  early  as  1831. 

Another  early  trader,  and  perhaps  the  only  one  not  hereto¬ 
fore  referred  to  as  doing  business  on  the  lakes,  was  Michel  St. 
Cyr.  An  interesting  biography  of  him  has  been  prepared  by 
L.  C.  Draper,  LL.  D.,  and  published  in  Vol.  YI  of  the  Collec¬ 
tions  of  the  State  Historical  Society,  and  from  which  the  fol¬ 
lowing  extract  is  taken: 

“  St.  Cyr  was  a  Canadian  half-breed  (his  mother’s  name  was 
Kee-ho-kau,  a  Winnebago  woman),  born  about  1806;  had  al¬ 
ways  lived  on  the  frontier  and  among  the  Indians,  and  could 
speak  English  quite  well,  though  he  was  entirely  illiterate. 
He  was  a  man  of  ordinary  size,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds  weight;  with  a  thin  visage,  dark  complexion,  black  hair 
and  eyes,  a  quick  step,  and  a  ready,  active  man  generally,  in 
both  body  and  mind.  He  was  amiable,  and  kind  to  all,  and 
scorned  a  dishonest  man  or  a  liar.  He  exercised  a  commanding 
8 


26 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


influence  over  that  portion  of  the  Winnebagoes  with  whom  he 
was  associated.  He  succeeded  Rowan"  as  a  trader  at  the  head 
of  Fourth  Lake  —  whisky  and  tobacco  constituted  his  stock  in 
trade.  The  whisky  was  at  first  dealt  out  to  his  Indian  custom¬ 
ers  in  full  strength,  and  pretty  liberal  quantities,  until  they 
became  considerably  oblivious,  when  the  liquor  was  diluted, 
and  finally,  as  they  became  still  more  intoxicated,  water  was 
freely  substituted,  and,  as  St.  Cyr  said,  answered  every  pur¬ 
pose.  But  this  trade  was  not  sufficient  for  a  livelihood,  and 
St.  Cyr  cultivated  about  eight  acres  of  ground,  surrounded 
with  a  rude  fence,  raising  corn,  oats,  potatoes,  and  a  few  vege¬ 
tables.  His  cabin  was  a  small  affair,  about  twelve  feet  square, 
with  a  dirt  floor;  and  almost  adjoining  it  was  a  stable  of  about 
the  same  dimensions.  With  a  Winnebago  woman  for  his  wife, 
and  two  sons  and  two  daughters,  all  young,  he  entertained  the 
very  few  travelers  that  passed  through  the  country.  When 
A.  F.  Pratt  and  companion  stopped  there  in  February,  1837,  as 
related  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Wisconsin  Historical  Collec¬ 
tions,  they  had  served  up  to  them  a  kind  of  pot-pie  which  relished 
very  well;  and  after  finishing  their  meal,  and  inquiring  what 
kind  of  meat  they  had  eaten,  they  were  informed  that  it 
was  musk-rat.  Indeed  muskrats,  and  occasionally  pheasants, 
seemed  to  form  the  principal  viands  for  his  table;  and  St.  Cyr 
would  pleasantly  observe,  that  the  Englishmen,  meaning  white 
people  generally,  ‘would  just  as  soon  eat  pheasant  as  rat,  when 
all  were  cooked  up  together.’  ” 

St.  Cyr  resided  at  a  point  a  little  north  of  the  mouth  of 
Pheasant  Branch,  where  the  City  of  the  Four  Lakes  was  lo¬ 
cated  and  plattedj  and  now  owned  by  Mr.  James  Liyesey,  about 
six  miles  from  the  State  University.  His  place  was  the  near¬ 
est  to  the  location  of  Madison.  He  received  from  Col.  Slaugh¬ 
ter  some  two  hundred  dollars  for  his  trifling  improvements, 
and  about  the  first  of  July,  1838,  he  removed  first  to  Minneso¬ 
ta,  and  soon  after  to  the  Winnebago  Reservation  in  Iowa,  and 
there  he  died  about  1864.  His  two  sons  grew' up  worthless  fel¬ 
lows  among  the  Indians,  and,  as  some  of  the  Winnebagoes  re¬ 
ported,  “  they  drink  heap  of  whisky.” 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


27 


Michel  St.  Cyr  was  one  of  the  half-breed  Canadian  race  of 
the  coureurs  des  hois,  voyageurs  and  Indian  traders,  whose 
wants  were  few  and  simple,  and  who,  in  manners,  customs  and 
acquirements,  were  but  slightly  in  advance  of  the  Indians 
with  whom  they  associated,  lived  and  died.  It*  was  only  the 
mere  accident  of  his  having  been  temporarily  an  early  settler 
of  this  section  of  country,  and  the  humble  part  he  took  in  the 
primitive  survey  of  Madison,  as  will  hereafter  appear,  that  led 
to  the  perpetuation  of  his  name  and  career  in  these  early  rem¬ 
inisces  of  the  country. 

In  the  year  1834  the  preliminary  steps  were  taken  by  the 
General  Government  to  have  the  lands  in  this  locality  surveyed 
and  brought  into  market,  and  we  find  by  the  volume  of  Field 
Notes  in  the  office  of  the  School  and  University  Land  Com¬ 
missioners,  that  February  4,  Mr.  Orsost  Lyoh  contracted  with 
M.  T.  Williams,  Esq.,  United  States  Surveyor  General  for  the 
States  of  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Michigan,  to  survey  fractional 
township  seven,  north  of  range  nine,  east  of  the  fourth  princi¬ 
pal  meridian,  in  the  Northwest  Territory,  comprising  the  pres¬ 
ent  town  of  Madison. 

These  lands,  including  others  adjacent,  were  surveyed  in  the 
month  of  December  of  that  year,  and  certified  to  by  Orsoh 
Lyoh,  Deputy  Surveyor,  Harrisoh  Flesher  and  Johh 
Straight,  chain-bearers,  and  Madisoh  Youhg,  ax-man,  on 
the  6th  of  that  month.  Accompanying  the  notes  is  a  drawing 
of  the  grounds  and  the  lakes. 

In  the  summer  or  autumn,  1835,  Col.  William  B.  Slaugh¬ 
ter*  entered  the  tract  of  land  occupied  by  St.  Cyr,  and  on  the 

*Col.  William  B.  Slaughter  was  a  native  of  Culpepper  county,  Va.; 
born  April  19,  1797,  and  was  educated  at  William  and  Mary’s  College, 
Va.  He  removed  to  Bardstown,  Kentucky,  where  he  practiced  law  from 
1827  to  1829,  and,  in  1830,  removed  to  Bedford,  Lawrence  county,  Indiana. 
In  1832,  was  elected  a  member  of  the  legislature,  when  he  introduced  the 
Indiana  resolutions,  sustaining  President  Jackson’s  proclamation  on  the 
subject  of  nullification  and  threatened  secession  in  South  Carolina.  He 
was  appointed  Register  of  the  Land  Office  at  Indianapolis  in  1833,  which 
position  he  resigned  the  year  following,  and  was  appointed  to  the  same 
office  at  Green  Bay  in  1835.  While  serving  in  that  capacity  he  was  elected 


28 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


20tli  of  December  conveyed  an  undivided  interest  to  Judge  J. 
D.  Doty,  with  a  view  of  having  a  town  laid  out  there,  and 
eventually  securing  the  location  of  the  Territorial  Capital  at 
that  point.  Accordingly,  Judge  Doty  employed  John  Ban¬ 
nister,  a  surveyor  of  Green  Bay  (who  subsequently  removed 
to  Fond  du  Lac,  and  died  there),  to  lay  out  the  City  of  the  Four 
Lakes ,  where  Rowan  and  St.  Cyr  had  successively  traded,  and 
where  Gen.  Dodge  had  held  a  conference  with  the  Winneba- 
goes,  May  25,  1832.  It  was  surveyed  and  platted  probably  in 
June,  1836,  as  the  certificate  of  the  plat  bears  date  July  7  of 
that  year.  This  city  (on  paper)  at  one  time  had  high  aspira¬ 
tions  for  the  seat  of  government,  but  owing  to  circumstances 
not  necessary  here  to  state,  it  failed  to  win  the  coveted  prize. 

J.  Y.  Suydam,  Esq.,  of  Green  Bay,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  L.  C. 
Draper,  thus  refers  to  his  visit  to  Madison  with  Gov.  Doty  for 
the  purpose  of  laying  out  and  surveying  the  plat  for  the  vil¬ 
lage: 

u  On  the  second  day  of  October,  Gov.  Doty  and  myself 
started  from  Green  Bay  on  horseback,  he  with  his  green  blanket 
and  shot  gun,  that  had  been  his  companions  on  many  and 

a  member  of  the  Legislative  Council  of  Michigan,  which  assembled  at 
Green  Bay  in  the  winter  of  1835,  and  was  the  author  of  the  memorial  to 
Congress  praying  to  disconnect  the  territory  lying  west  of  Lake  Michigan 
from  the  State  of  Michigan,  and  to  be  organized  into  a  new  Territory  to 
be  called  Wisconsin. 

He  resigned  the  office  of  Register  in  1841.  In  May,  1837,  he  came  to 
the  “  City  of  the  Four  Lakes,”  a  plat  of  which  was  laid  out  and  put  on 
record  July  7,  1836,  by  M.  L.  Martin,  W.  B.  Slaughter  and  J.  D.  Doty, 
proprietors.  Mr.  Slaughter  opened  up  a  farm  and  made  it  his  residence 
until  1845,  when  he  removed  to  his  old  home  in  Virginia;  but  at  the  be¬ 
ginning  of  the  late  war  (1861)  he  returned  to  Wisconsin,  and  located  in 
the  town  of  Middleton,  Dane  county. 

In  1862  he  was  appointed  Commissary  of  Subsistence  and  Quartermas¬ 
ter  by  President  Lincoln,  and  served  one  year,  when  he  retired,  and  re¬ 
turned  to  Wisconsin,  where  he  still  resides  at  his  home  in  sight  of  the 
City  of  Madison.  Although  in  his  77th  year,  he  is  strong  and  active  as 
most  persons  one  half  his  age.  He  has  delivered  a  number  of  lectures  on 
moral,  philosophical  and  political  subjects,  which  have  been  greatly  ad¬ 
mired  for  their  genius,  learning  and  eloquence. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN.  29 

many  a  trip  through  the  almost  trackless  wilds  of  Wisconsin, 
and  I  with  my  compass  and  chain.  We  were  both  provided 
for  camping  out  wherever  night  should  overtake  us ;  and  for  the 
more  solid  part  of  our  forage,  we  were  to  depend  upon  the  Gfov- 
ernor’s  gun.  On  our  way  we  stopped  at  various  places,  among 
which  were  ClifFton,  at  the  north  end  of  Winnebago  Lake, 
where  we  laid  out  the  village  hearing  that  name,  out  of  respect 
to  an  extensive  ledge  of  rock  that  crops  out  at  that  point;  and 
at  Duck  creek,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Wisconsin  river,  about 
eight  or  ten  miles  below  Portage  City,  where  we  laid  out  the 
town  of  Wisconsinapolis. 

u  Finally,  after  about  eight  days  from  the  time  of  leaving 
home,  we  reached  what  was  then  called  1  Four  Lakes.’  We 
came  by  the  trail  that  led  around  by  the  north  side  and  west 
end  of  Fourth  Lake,  and  found  near  what  might  be  called 
the  northwest  corner,  and  perhaps  two  miles  from  where 
the  University  buildings  now  stand,  a  small  log  house,  occu¬ 
pied  by  a  man  whose  name  I  have  forgotten,*  who  entertained 
our  horses  and  ourselves  nights,  and  assisted  us  day  times  in 
making  such  meanders  and  surveys  of  the  shores  of  the  Third 
and  Fourth  Lakes,  and  other  points,  as  were  necessary  for  mak¬ 
ing  the  plat  of  the  future  city.  This  took  us,  I  think,  three 
days.  The  precise  time  in  which  the  survey  and  original  plat 
of  the  city  were  made,  was  during  the  second  and  third  weeks 
of  October,  while  the  Legislature  was  in  session  at  Belmont. 

u  While  standing  at  the  section  corner,  on  that  beautiful  spot 
between  the  Lakes,  then  the  central  point  of  a  wilderness,  with 
no  civilization  nearer  than  Fort  Winnebago  on  the  north,  and 
Blue  Mounds  on  the  west,  and  but  very  little  there ;  and  over 
which  now  stands  the  principal  entrance  to  one  of  the  finest  cap- 
itol  structures  in  the  west  —  I  have  no  doubt  Grov.  Doty  saw 
in  his  far-reaching  mind,  just  what  we  now  see  actually  ac¬ 
complished,  a  splendid  city  surrounding  the  capitol  of  Wiscon¬ 
sin  at  Four  Lakes,  as  he  remarked  to  me  then,  that  I  need  not 
be  surprised  to  learn  that  the  seat  of  government  of  Wiscon¬ 
sin  was  located  on  that  spot  before  the  Legislature  had  adjourned. 
And  sure  enough,  it  so  happened. 


*  Michel  St.  Cyr. 


30 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  ARD  THE 


“We  went  directly  to  Belmont,  where  the  Legislature  was 
in  session.  On  arriving  there,  I  immediately  set  about  draw¬ 
ing  the  plat  of  Madison,  the  Governor,  in  the  mean  time,  giv¬ 
ing  me  minute  directions  as  to  its  whole  plan,  every  item  of 
which  having  originated  with  him  while  on  the  ground  as  being 
the  most  suitable,  and  best  calculated,  to  develop  the  peculiar 
topography  of  the  place. 

“  As  soon  as  the  plats  were  completed,  I  returned  home  alone, 
leaving  the  Governor  behind  to  carry  out  his  object.  On  the 
adjournment  of  the  Legislature,  quite  a  number  of  gentlemen, 
I  never  learned  how  many,  belonging  to  that  body,  went  to 
their  homes  the  owners  of  sundry  corner  lots  in  a  new  town, 
and  the  seat  of  government  of  Wisconsin  was  permanently  lo¬ 
cated  at  Madison,  while  the  temporary  locality  was  to  be  at 
Burlington,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  until  the  capi- 
tol  buildings  were  erected  and  got  ready  for  occupancy. 

“  Gov.  Doty  had  the  honor  of  naming  the  county  of  Dane 
after  some  notable  person  and  circumstance  connected  with  the 
passage  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  for  the  government  of  the 
territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio,  which  he  wished  might  be 
preserved  in  this  imperishable  way ;  and  the  name  was  given  to 
the  city  by  him  in  honor  of  President  Madison,  whose  mem¬ 
ory  he  held  in  very  high  esteem.” 

Mr.  Suydam  certifies,  October  27, 1836,  that  he  had  carefully 
meandered  and  measured  the  exterior  lines  of  the  plat  of  the 
town  of  Madison;  and  Judge  Doty  certifies  to  its  correctness 
November  4,  1836,  at  Belmont. 

It  may  be  desirable  at  this  point  to  give  a  brief  account  of 
the  place  selected  for  the  seat  of  Government,  as  a  matter  of  his¬ 
toric  interest.  The  village  (now  city)  of  Madison,  is  situated 
in  latitude  43  degrees  4  minutes  and  20  seconds  north,  and  lon¬ 
gitude  89  degrees  20  minutes  west  from  Greenwich,  or  12  de¬ 
grees  20  minutes  west  from  Washington;  another  authority 
makes  it  nine  minutes  further  west,  or  ten  and  one-third  miles. 
The  grounds  occupy  under  the  city  charter,  the  greater  por¬ 
tion  of  sections  13,  14,  23  and  24  of  town  7  north  from  the  base 
line  or  southern  boundary  of  the  state,  and  range  9  east  from 
the  fourth  principal  meridian:  these  sections  have  their  corner 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


31 


under  the  western  doorway  of  the  rotunda  of  the  capitol.  This 
point  is  about  seventy-five  miles  in  an  air  line  from  Lake  Mich¬ 
igan,  about  ninety  miles  from  the  Mississippi  river,  thirty- 
nine  miles  from  the  southern,  and  two  hundred  and  forty  miles 
from  the  northern  boundary  of  the  state,  at  its  nearest  point  on 
Lake  Superior,  and  two  hundred  and  sixty-four  from  the  ex¬ 
treme  northern  limit  of  the  state.  It  is  therefore  very  near  the 
centre  of  the  state  of  which  it  is  the  capitol  on  an  east  and 
west  line  but  far  from  the  center  of  a  north  and  south  line.  It 
is  twenty-three  miles  from  the  western  and  nineteen  miles  from 
the  eastern  boundary  of  Dane  county,  of  which  it  is  the 
capital  seat,  and  midway  between  the  northern  and  southern 
boundaries  being  fifteen  miles  from  each. 

The  site  of  Madison  is  a  i  undulating  isthmus  between  Lake 
Mendota  (Fourth  Lake)  on  the  northwest,  and  Lake  Monona 
(Third  Lake)  on  the  southeast.  These  lakes  are  788  feet  above 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  210  feet  above  Lake  Michigan. 

The  most  elevated  ground  within  the  present  city  limits,  is 
u  University  Hill,”  the  summit  of  which  is  about  125  feet  above 
the  surrounding  lakes.  The  ground  upon  which  the  capitol 
stands  is  about  75  feet,  and  the  ridge  that  skirts  Lake  Mendota, 
about  80  feet  above  the  level  of  the  water.  Northeast  of  the 
capitol,  each  of  the  lakes  is  skirted  by  a  ridge  perhaps  thirty  or 
forty  feet  high.  Between  these  ridges  the  ground  is  flat,  and 
was  formerly  a  wet  marsh.  The  efforts  to  reclaim  this  tract  by 
draining  and  by  lowering  Lake  Monona  have  been  successful, 
and  a  number  of  dwellings  and  shops  have  been  erected  upon 
it;  also  the  works  of  the  Madison  Gas  Light  and  Coke  Com¬ 
pany.  The  site  of  the  city,  with  this  exception,  is  abundantly 
high  and  so  rolling  as  to  afford  perfect  drainage  and  beautiful 
building  sites.  Much  has  been  said  of  its  beauty.  Horace 
Greeley,  Bayard  Taylor  and  other  distinguished  visitors 
have  described  the  charming  lake  scenery  by  which  we  are  sur¬ 
rounded  in  such  glowing  terms  as  to  give  Madison  a  national 
reputation.  The  visitor  has  only  to  survey  the  city  from  the 
dome  of  the  State  Capitol,  the  State  University,  the  Park  Ho¬ 
tel  or  Yilas  House,  to  satisfy  himself  that  the  world  affords 
few  more  delightful  prospects. 


32 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


Hon.  John'  Catlin,*  now  of  Elizabeth,  N.  J.,  one  of  the 
earliest  of  our  pioneers,  and  who  was  the  first  Clerk  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  Territory,  the  first  attorney  and  District 
Attorney  of  Dane  county,  and  the  first  postmaster  of  Madison, 
has  given  the  following  account  of  the  early  years  of  his  resi¬ 
dence  : 

“  The  territorial  government  of  Wisconsin  was  organized 
and  took  effect  on  the  4th  of  July,  1836.  The  legislature  was 
convened  by  proclamation  of  Gov.  Henry  Dodge  to  meet  at 
Belmont  in  November  of  that  year.  I  was  at  Belmont  during 
the  session  when  the  Capital  was  established  by  law  at  Madi- 

*Hon.  John  Catlin  was  born  in  Orwell,  Vt.,  on  the  13th  day  of  Octo¬ 
ber,  1803.  He  was  the  son  of  John  B.  Catlin,  and  a  descendant  of  the 
6th  generation  of  Thomas  Catlin  who  was  a  resident  of  Hartford,  Conn., 
1645,  6,  and  from  whom  a  large  part  of  the  persons  of  that  name  in  this 
country  are  supposed  to  have^  descended.  His  mother’s  name  was  Rosa 
Ormsbee,  daughter  of  John  Ormsbee  of  Shoreham,  Vt.  Both  of  his 
grandparents  served  through  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  died  in  Ver¬ 
mont  at  an  advanced  age.  His  grandfather  on  his  fathers  side,  was  one 
of  seven  brothers  all  engaged  in  the  Revolution,  and  were  all  stalwart 
men,  remarkable  foi  size,  being  all  six  feet  in  height  and  well  propor¬ 
tioned.  His  grandfather  Ormsbee  was  a  Lieutenant  and  was  honorably 
discharged  at  the  close  of  the  war,  receiving  $1,400  in  continental  money 
for  his  services,  and  when  he  returned  to  his  family  in  Massachusetts 
paid  $60  —  of  it  for  a  bushel  of  corn,  so  great  was  its  depreciation. 

Mr.  Catlin’s  father  was  a  merchant,  but  when  the  war  of  1812,  broke 
out,  retired  to  a  farm  on  Lake  Champlain  in  the  town  of  Bridport, 
Addison  Co.,  Vt.,  where  Mr.  Catlin  was  raised,  receiving  only  a  common 
school  education  with  the  exception  of  a  year  at  Newton  Academy  in 
Shoreham,  and  a  few  months  study  of  French  in  Canada.  When 
eighteen  years  of  age  he  took  a  school  and  continued  to  teach  for  nine 
winters,  during  which  time  he  educated  himself,  studied  law  with  Hon. 
Augustus  C.  Hand  of  Elizabethtown  New  York,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  Bar  in  1833.  In  the  spring  of  1836  he  removed  to  the  west,  and 
settled  at  Mineral  Point,  in  May  of  that  year,  entering  into  partnership 
with  Hon.  Moses  M.  Strong. 

When  the  seat  of  government  was  located  at  Madison,  Mr.  Catlin  was 
appointed  Postmaster  and  established  the  office  in  May,  1837,  anc*  remov¬ 
ed  to  Madison  permanently  in  the  spring  of  1838.  On  the  election  of 
Gen.  Harrison  to  the  Presidency,  Mr.  Catlin  was  removed  on  political 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


33 


son,  then  in  the  wilderness,  with  only  three  white  men  residing 
in  what  is  now  Dane  county.  These  were  Ebehezer  Brig¬ 
ham,  Ebeh  Peck  residing  with  him  at  the  East  Blue  Mound, 
and  Abel  Rasdall  residing  at  the  First  Lake.  Michel  St. 
C  yr,  a  half  breed,  residing  at  the  head  of  F ourth  Lake.  The 
legislature  formed  the  plan  of  organizing  a  territorial  govern¬ 
ment  west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  and  to  divide  the  territory 
by  that  river,  which  was  subsequently  accomplished,  and  the 
territorial  government  of  Iowa  organized,  and  this  was  the 
main  reason  for  locating  the  seat  of  government  at  Madison, 

grounds,  and  restored  by  Mr.  Wickliff  who  was  appointed  Postmaster 
General  under  President  Tyler.  Mr.  Catlin  continued  to  hold  the  office 
until  his  election  to  the  council  in  1844  when  he  resigned,  as  he  could  not 
by  law  hold  both  offices.  On  the  organization  of  the  Supreme  Court  in 
the  fall  of  1836,  Mr.  Catlin  received  the  appointment  of  clerk,  and  was 
chief  clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Territory  from  1838 
until  1845  when  L.  F.  Kellogg  succeeded  him  to  that  office.  On  the 
organization  of  Dane  County  for  county  and  Judicial  purposes,  Mr.  Catlin 
was  appointed  District  Attorney. 

In  1846  Mr.  George  R.  C.  Floyd  being  in  default  to  the  United  States 
Government  as  Secretary  of  the  Territory,  was  removed  and  Mr.  Catlin 
was  appointed  to  that  office  by  President  Polk  which  he  held  until  the 
admission  of  the  Territory  as  a  State  in  1848. 

The  State  of  Wisconsin  was  admitted  into  the  Union,  with  its  western 
boundary  by  the  Mississippi  and  St.  Croix  rivers,  leaving  out  a  full  organ¬ 
ized  county  with  a  sheriff,  clerk  of  court,  judge  of  probate  and  justices 
of  the  peace  which  had  formerly  been  included  within  the  limits  of  the 
Territory  and  under  its  government  and  laws.  A  bill  had  been  intro¬ 
duced  at  a  previous  session  Congress  by  Hon.  Morgan  L.  Martin  the 
delegate  from  Wisconsin,  to  organize  a  territorial  government  for  Min¬ 
nesota,  including  the  district  left  out  on  the  admission  of  Wisconsin,  but 
which  failed  to  become  a  law  on  account  of  the  slavery  question.  The 
citizens  of  what  is  now  Minnesota,  were  very  anxious  to  obtain  a  terri- 
toral  government  and  two  public  meetings  were  held,  one  at  St.  Paul, 
and  the  other  at  Stillwater,  advising  and  soliciting  Mr.  Catlin,  who  was 
Secretary  of  Wisconsin,  to  issue  a  proclamation,  as  the  acting  Governor 
for  the  election  of  a  delegate. 

On  consultation  with  Governor  Dodge  who  had  been  elected  to  the 
Senate  for  the  new  State  (and  consequently  had  vacated  the  office  of 
Governor),  and  on  the  resignation  of  Hon.  John  H.  Tweedy  of  the  office 


34 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


which  would  be  in  about  the  center  of  the  territory,  between 
the  east  and  the  west,  if  the  territory  (now  the  state  of  Iowa) 
should  he  set  olf.  They  had,  however,  another  reason,  which 
was  the  settlement  of  the  interior,  and  the  opening  up  of  the 
country  at  a  time  when  population  was  greatly  to  he  desired. 
Provision  was  made  for  building  a  capitol  to  he  commenced  in 
the  spring  of  1837,  and  hy  the  advice  of  members  of  the  legis¬ 
lature  I  agreed  to  locate  at  Madison,  was  recommended  for  and 
appointed  postmaster,  having  been  previously  appointed  Clerk 

of  Delegate,  Mr.  Catlin  repaired  to  Stillwater  and  issued  a  proclamation 
for  the  election  of  Delegate.  Hon.  H.  H.  Sibley  was  elected,  and  nearly 
four  hundred  votes  were  polled  at  the  election.  Gen.  Sibley  presented  his 
certificate  of  election  to  Congress  which  was  referred  to  a  committee 
which  reported  in  favor  of  the  admission  of  the  Delegate ;  the  committee 
taking  the  same  view  Mr.  Catlin  had  taken,  and  Gen.  Sibley  was  admitt¬ 
ed  to  his  seat  on  the  floor  of  congress  by  a  vote  of  two  to  one,  most  of 
the  southern  members  opposing,  contending  that  the  Territoral  Govern¬ 
ment  fell  on  the  admission  of  Wisconsin.  The  admission  of  Gen.  Sibley 
facilitated  and  hastened  the  passage  of  a  bill  for  the  organization 
of  a  Territorial  Government  for  Minnesota  which  Gen.  Sibley  was 
enable  to  get  passed  notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  the  southern 
members.  Mr.  Catlin  subsequently  was  elected  to  the  office  of  County 
Judge  of  Dane  county,  which  he  resigned  on  being  appointed  President 
of  the  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  Railroad  Company,  when  he  removed  to 
Milwaukee  when  the  principal  office  of  the  company  was  kept.  Mr.  Catlin 
rendered  efficient  service  in  the  building  of  the  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi 
road.  He  was  mainly  instrumental  in  procuring  in  the  banking  law  a 
provision  making  first  mortgage  bonds  of  railroads  to  the  amount  of 
fifty  per  cent,  the  basis  of  banking,  under  certain  restrictions,  a  provis¬ 
ion  which  enabled  him  to  sell  and  issue  of  $600,000  of  bonds  on  the  said 
road,  which  breathed  into  the  corporation  the  breath  of  life,  and  gave  it 
a  grand  start  towards  the  Mississippi. 

Mr.  Catlin  declined  a  re-election  as  president  in  1856,  and  on  the  nth 
of  February  the  Board  of  Directors  tendered  him  their  thanks  for  the  able 
and  efficient  manner  in  which  for  the  past  five  years  he  had  discharged 
the  arduous  and  responsible  dnties  of  that  office. 

After  the  failure  of  the  company  in  the  revulsion  of  1857,  Mr.  Catlin 
was  again  elected  President,  and  re-organized  the  company  under  the 
name  of  the  Milwaukee  &  Prairie  du  Chien  Railway,  and  was  Vice 
President  until  the  consolidation  of  the  company  with  the  Milwaukee  & 
St.  Paul. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


35 


of  the  Supreme  Court  at  its  first  session  held  at  Belmont  in 
1836. 

“  My  first  visit  to  Madison  was  in  company  with  Moses  M. 
Strong,  Esq.,  Josiah  A.  Noonan  and  Geo.  Messersmith,  early 
in  the  year  1837  (or  in  December,  1836)  to  survey  out  and  find 
the  lines  of  Mr.  Noonan’s*  lands  lying  just  west  and  adjoining 
Madison.  We  found  the  snow  very  deep,  and  after  a  hard 
day’s  work,  wading  in  the  snow,  we  camped  at  night  between 
the  Third  Lake  (Monona)  and  Dead  Lake  (Wingra),  where 
we  found  some  thick  timber  and  a  sheltered  spot.  With 
a  good  deal  of  difficulty  we  made  a  log  heap  fire  and  eat  our 
snack,  and  after  the  fire  had  thawed  the  snow,  and  warmed  the 
ground,  we  removed  the  fire  to  a  little  distance  and  made  our 
bed  on  the  ashes  where  the  fire  had  warmed  the  ground.  The 
weather  was  extremely  cold,  hut  we  slept  warm,  and  the  next 
morning  Mr.  Noonan  left  us  on  horseback  for  Milwaukee. 
The  snow  being  too  deep  to  survey  out  and  find  the  corners  of 
lots  and  blocks  in  Madison,  and  the  weather  extremely  cold, 
we  returned  to  Mineral  Point  to  wait  for  milder  weather. 

“  In  February,  1837,  I  again  visited  Madison  with  Mr. 
Strong,  who  had  been  employed  by  Judge  James  D.  Doty 
(who  platted  the  town  from  the  township  plats  without  a 
survey)  to  survey  out  some  lots  and  blocks  around  the  public 
square  according  to  the  plat  he  furnished,  so  that  those  persons 
who  intended  to  build,  could  find  their  lots.  We  found  that  the 
snow  still  covered  the  ground,  and  we  stuck  the  stakes  in  the 
snow,  the  ground  being  too  deeply  frozen  in  most  places  to  receive 
the  stakes.  We  camped  in  the  timber  in  the  low  grounds  under 
the  hill  of  the  Fourth  Lake,  and  were  compelled  to  abandon 
our  work  by  a  severe  snow  storm,  that  so  blinded  us,  that  it 
was  with  great  difficulty  we  found  our  way  across  the  Fourth 
Lake  to  the  cabin  of  St.  Cyr,  where  we  stayed  two  days,  until 
the  storm  was  over.  While  here  I  made  a  contract  with  him 
to  erect  the  body  of  a  log  house  on  lot  3,  in  block  90,  where 

*  These  lands  were  what  is  generally  known  as  the  “  Darwin  Meadow 
Lawn  Farm,”  now  the  property  of  Daniel  Campbell. 


36 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


the  postoffice  now  stands,  which  he  put  up  in  that  month,  hut 
the  house  was  not  finished  and  completed  until  spring. 

“  In  the  spring  I  drew  the  pine  lumber  to  finish  the  house 
from  Helena,  on  the  Wisconsin  river,  at  a  cost  of  over  190  per 
thousand  feet,  and  was  so  unfortunate,  after  its  completion  in 
very  good  style,  as  to  have  the  inside  burnt  out  before  any  one 
lived  in  it.  I  again  visited  Madison  in  March,  where  I  found 
Mr.  Ebest  Peck  drawing  logs  to  erect  a  house  which  was 
partially  completed  in  April,  and  in  May  he  removed  into  fit, 
which  was  the  first  house  built  in  Madison  that  any  one  lived 
in.  Mr.  Peck  kept  on  adding  to  it  until  it  was  capacious 
enough  to  entertain  comfortably,  the  travelers  and  first  settlers 
who  visited  Madison  and  it  was  then  a  great  accommodation. 
On  the  27th  day  of  May,  1837,  I  established  the  postoffice  by 
appointing  Luther  Peck  as  deputy,  and  the  first  mails  were 
opened  and  the  office  kept  in  Mr.  E.  Peck’s  house,  his  being 
the  only  family  in  Madison. 

u  In  June,  1837,  Mr.  Augustus  A.  Bird,  one  of  the  commis¬ 
sioners  of  public  buildings,  arrived  from  Milwaukee  with  quite 
a  large  number  of  mechanics,  and  commenced  building  a  board¬ 
ing  house,  office,  steam  mill,  store  and  hotel,  preparatory  to  the 
erection  of  the  capitol,  and  very  soon  the  excavation  for  the 
foundation  of  the  capitol  building  was  commenced.  James 
Morrxsoh  was  the  contractor  and  Mr.  Bird  was  the  acting 
commissioner  and  superintendent,  and  had  the  general  man¬ 
agement.  A  mail  route  was  established  between  Milwaukee 
and  Mineral  Point,  carried  on  horseback,  which  first  supplied 
Madison,  but  afterwards  the  mail  route  from  Galena,  Illinois, 
to  Fort  Winnebago,  carried  in  a  two  horse  stage,  was  changed 
to  go  via  Madison. 

u  On  the  4th  of  July,  1837,  Mr.  Simeoh  Mills  was  sworn  in 
as  deputy  postmaster,  and  kept  the  office  in  a  one  story  log 
building  on  lot  8  in  block  108  during  that  year,  and  the  sum¬ 
mer  of  1838,  until  he  became  a  mail  contractor  on  the  route 
between  Milwaukee  and  Madison. 

u  The  second  session  of  the  legislature  was  held  at  Burlington 
(now  Iowa)  in  the  fall  of  1837  and  winter  of  1838,  where  I 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


37 


spent  the  winter,  and  was  not  therefore  at  Madison,  hut  I  have 
been  told  of  the  high  prices  and  short  supplies  that  prevailed 
among  the  few  residents  of  the  town.  Flour  was  $20  per 
barrel,  salt  $30,  hut  other  articles  were  more  reasonable.  Salt 
and  flour  had  to  be  hauled  from  Galena  through  the  timbers 
and  across  the  prairies,  with  scarcely  any  roads  for  the  first 
forty  miles  west  of  Madison.  In  the  spring  of  1838  there  was 
some  relief  to  the  high  prices,  but  the  times  were  what  men 
called  “  hard  ”  as  there  was  no  money  except  “  wild  cat  ”  and 
“  shin  plasters,”  which  soon  ceased  to  be  of  value.  Judge 
Doty  issued  his  own  notes,  handsomely  engraved,  which  passed 
current  at  Madison  and  in  other  places  and  were  all  redeemed. 
The  wild  cat  banks  of  Michigan  flooded  the  new  territory,  and 
after  being  put  in  circulation  soon  became  of  no  value,  and 
made  the  times  harder  than  ever  to  the  new  settlers.  What  gave 
rise  to  the  “  wild  cat  ”  (and  “  shin  plasters  ”  was  the  speculation 
of  1836-7,  caused  by  the  removal  of  the  deposits  of  the  govern¬ 
ment  from  the  United  States  Bank  to  the  state  banks,  which 
induced  the  latter  to  discount  freely  and  greatly  to  expand 
the  paper  circulation  of  the  country,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1837,  President  Jackson  issued  the  “specie  circular”  which 
arrested  the  speculation,  and  a  general  suspension  and  failure  of 
the  banks  was  the  consequence. 

“  The  third  session  of  the  legislature  was  held  in  Madison  in 
the  winter  of  1838.  Two  hotels  called  the  “  American  ”  and 
“  Madison  ”  having  been  erected,  together  with  several  private 
houses  for  the  accommodation  of  the  members.  Mr.  J.  A. 
Noonan  published  the  first  paper  printed  at  Madison,  called 
the  “  Wisconsin  Enquirer,”  and  was  the  public  printer  of  the 
legislature. 

“  The  ‘  American  Hotel 1  was  kept  by  Messrs.  Fake  &  Cot¬ 
ton,  and  the  “  Madison  ”  by  Mr.  Chas.  H.  Bird,  and  the  fare 
was  quite  passable.  There  was  a  number  of  private  houses 
that  boarded  members  and  officers  of  the  legisature.  I  heard 
but  few  complaints  of  short-commons  at  that  session. 

“  On  the  Fourth  of  July,  1837,  we  had  an  impromptu  cele¬ 
bration  at  Peck’s  Mansion  house.  There  were  present  James  D. 


38 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


Doty,  Thos.  W.  Sutherland,  E.  P.  Deacon,  two  of  the  Messrs. 
Schermerhorns  of  New  York,  John  Messersmith,  Senior, 
John  D.  Ansley,  Simeon  Mills,  myself  ancl  many  others  nearly 
all  accidentally  met  on  the  occasion.  We  had  refreshments 
with  champagne,  lemonade,  punch,  toasts  and  some  conver¬ 
sational  speeches.  It  was  quite  enjoyable,  the  more  so  from 
the  absence  of  clap-trap  and  parade,  and  the  noise  of  gunpow¬ 
der  usual  upon  such  occasions.  The  day  was  fine  and  the  coun¬ 
try  about  the  four  lakes  to  me,  at  least  never  looked  more  beau¬ 
tiful.  A  more  enthusiastic  company  with  “  great  expectations  ” 
could  rarely  be  found. 

“  In  the  spring  of  1839,  the  county  of  Dane  was  organized  for 
judicial  purposes,  and  the  “  District  Court  ”  opened  and  estab¬ 
lished  by  the  appointment  of  Simeon  Mills  clerk,  J udge  David 
Irwin  presiding.  There  was  no  business  to  be  done,  the  legis¬ 
lature  having  previously  passed  a  u  stay  law  ”  which  for  the 
time  being  prevented  the  collection  of  debts.  There  was  no 
criminal  business  for  the  courts  of  the  Territory  for  a  long  time 
after  its  organization,  and  this  fact  is  greatly  to  the  credit  of 
the  early  “pioneers  ”  or  first  settlers,  nor  was  there  much  liti¬ 
gation.  Almost  the  first  business  for  the  courts  and  lawyers, 
grew  out  of  the  passage  of  the  bankrupt  act  of  1841,  which 
was  passed  to  relieve  the  unfortunate  debtors  of  the  consequen¬ 
ces  of  the  speculation  of  1836,  and  the  revulsion  of  1837. 
“  Hard  times  ”  prevailed  for  many  years  afterwards  and  until 
Benton’s  u  mint  drops  ”  came  into  general  circulation.  Dur¬ 
ing  several  years  of  general  prostration  of  the  country,  gold 
flowed  into  the  country  from  Europe  to  fill  the  vacuum,  caused 
by  the  failure  of  the  banks.  Opposition  to  banks  and  corpora¬ 
tions  generally,  was  one  of  the  cardinal  principles  of  the  Dem¬ 
ocratic  party  in  those  days,  and  the  great  mass  of  the  western 
people  were  in  favor  of  the  doctrine.  The  hard  times  continued 
until  1848,  when  gold  was  discovered  in  California,  and  soon 
after  the  times  began  to  change,  and  property  began  to  rise  in 
value.  The  settlement  of  Madison  and  the  interior  of  the  state 
was  very  slow,  until  the  building  of  the  Milwaukee  and  Missis¬ 
sippi  Railroad,  and  that  caused  a  great  accession  of  population 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


39 


and  rise  in  the  value  of  real  estate.  The  state  census  of  1855 
showed  the  population  of  the  state  to  be  a  little  over  300,000, 
and  that  of  1860  gave  777,000,  thus  more  than  doubling  the 
population  in  five  years. 

“Notwithstanding  the  “hard  times11  and  the  impossibility 
of  making  money  and  “  getting  along  in  the  world  11  there  was 
much  real  happiness  and  enjoyment  among  the  early  settlers, 
all  were  friendly  and  good  will  prevailed.  The  “  almighty  dol¬ 
lar  11  had  not  then  taken  possession  of  their  souls  to  the  exclu¬ 
sion  of  the  milk  of  human  kindness  for  each  other,  and  the  ex¬ 
pectation  of  what  Madison  and  the  future  state  of  Wisconsin 
were  to  be,  and  the  future  wealth  the}7  were  sure  to  acquire,  kept 
them  in  good  spirits  and  made  life  endurable.  The  absence  of 
fashion  and  pride,  and  the  chilling  influence  of  wealth  made  their 
wants  few,  and  they  were  content  with  Mr.  Micawber’s  philos¬ 
ophy  of  “  waiting  for  things  to  turn  up.11 

“  There  was  plenty  of  leisure  for  hunting  and  fishing,  and 
both  game  and  fish  were  plenty.  Let  me  tell  a  “  fish  story 11 
right  here,  which  luckily  for  the  truth  of  history  is  capable  of 
verification  by  a  living  witness,  and  many  living  who  may  have 
heard  it  at  the  time.  On  the  first  day  of  May  in  1839,  return¬ 
ing  from  Cottage  Grove  with  LaFayette  Kellogg,  Esq.,  we 
discovered  a  large  catfish  near  the  shore  of  the  head  of  Third 
Lake,  and  I  suggested  the  idea  of  stopping  to  catch  him.  Mr.  K. 
laughed  heartily  at  the  suggestion  and  said  I  could  not  get  with¬ 
in  two  rods  of  him.  I  replied  that  he  did  not  understand  the 
nature  of  the  animal,  and  that  he  was  sunning  and  stupefied 
by  the  pleasure.  The  sun  was  shining  warmly  and  the  fish  was 
near  the  top  of  the  water,  I  waded  out  quietly  and  putting  my 
hands  gently,  one  under  his  head,  and  the  other  at  the  tail, 
lifted  him  out  of  the  water  and  landed  him  safely  upon  the  shore 
before  he  was  awake  from  his  stupor.  He  weighed  thirty-five 
pounds ! 

“Judge  Frazier,  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
appointed  from  Pennsylvania,  was  a  very  able  judge,  (when  not 
under  the  influence  of  liquor),  and  remarkable  for  his  ability, 
memory  and  knowledge  of  law.  A  term  of  the  court  was 


40 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


to  be  held  at  Madison,  in  July,  1838,  at  the  old  Madison 
Hotel,  which  was  only  partially  finished.  The  judge  came 
on  from  Pennsylvania  to  hold  the  term,  hut  the  other  judges, 
Dunn  and  Irvin,  did  not  attend.  The  judge  insisted  on 
opening  the  court  and  holding  the  term  as  the  law  required. 
I  informed  him  that  there  was  no  business  and  no  lawyers  in 
attendance.  He  said  that  made  no  difference.  It  was  neces¬ 
sary  to  adopt  rules,  and  accordingly  the  court  was  opened,  the 
judge  dictated  from  memory,  and  I  wrote  the  rules,  but  they 
were  not  adopted  by  the  other  judges.  The  climate  of  Madi¬ 
son,  however,  at  that  dry  time  at  the  capital,  did  not  suit  the 
judge,  as  the  “critter”  or  “0  be  joyful”  was  not  there,  except 
some  Chinese  cordial  in  the  store  of  Jas.  Morrison,  which 
Mr.  Bird  had  charge  of,  in  the  absence  of  Mr.  Morrison. 
This  cordial  was  put  up  in  a  very  handsome  and  expensive  set 
of  china-ware  representing  Mandarins,  and  by  the  liberality  of 
Mr.  Bird,  the  whole  set  was  emptied  by  the  judge  while  hold¬ 
ing  the  term  (about  a  dozen  bottles).  When  the  cordial  had 
all  leaked  out,  the  judge  took  his  departure,  and  never  held 
another  term.  He  died  at  Milwaukee,  November  8,  1838. 
Judge  A.  Gr.  Miller  was  soon  after  appointed  in  his  place,  who 
proved  to  be  a  very  temperate  and  upright  jurist,  and  gave  gen¬ 
eral  satisfaction.  On  the  organization  of  the  state  government, 
Judge  Miller  received  the  appointment  of  District  Judge  of 
the  United  States  Court  for  the  District  of  Wisconsin,  which 
he  held  until  his  resignation  January  1,  1873,  at  the  age  of  72, 
having  held  the  office  of  United  States  Judge  in  Wisconsin  — 
Territory  and  State  —  over  35  years. 

“  The  rules  of  practice  for  the  district  courts  of  the  Terri¬ 
tory,  were  prepared  by  Judge  Miller,  and  were  adopted  hy  the 
judges  of  the  supreme  court  at  the  term  of  1840.  These  rules 
were  published  in  primer  form,  and  were  the  uniform  rules  of 
practice  in  the  several  district  courts  until  after  the  admission 
of  the  State  into  the  Union. 

“The  only  men  I  remember  living  in  Dane  county  in  1837, 
other  than  the  men  who  came  with  A.  A.  Bird  to  work  on  the 
capitol,  were  Ebenezer  Brigham  at  the  Blue  Mounds,  J ohn 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


41 


Kellogg  at  the  same  place,  the  two  Pecks,  Abel  Rasdall 
at  First  Lake,  Coyalle  at  Second  Lake,  Abram  Wood  at 
Wood’s  Point  on  Third  Lake,  and  St.  Cyr  at  the  City  of  the 
Four  Lakes.  Horace  Lawrehce,  I  think,  came  during  the 
same  year,  and  also  Johm  Stoker.  Berry  Hahey  lived  at 
Cross  Plains.  I  staid  one  night  at  his  place,  on  my  way  to 
Green  Bay,  in  September,  1836. 

“Col.  Ab.  Nichols,  who  built  ‘The  Worser,’  where  the 
United  States  Hotel  afterwards  stood,  was  a  noted  person  in 
early  times,  but,  on  the  whole,  a  very  good  sort  of  man.  It 
was  he  that  named  Mineral  Point  ‘  Shake  Rag,’  from  a  white 
cloth  that  used  to  be  hung  out  to  call  the  miners  to  dinner. 
The  colonel  reformed  at  the  close  of  his  life,  united  with  the 
church,  and  became  a  sincere  and  devoted  Christian.” 

A.  F.  Pratt,  Esq.,  of  Waukesha,  in  the  first  volume  of  the 
Collections  of  the  State  Historical  Society,  gives  a  notice  of 
Judge  Frazier,  which  is  re-published  in  connection  with  Mr. 
Catlik’s  account  of  the  early  judiciary: 

“  The  Territory  of  Wisconsin  was  organized  in  July,  1836. 
It  was  divided  into  three  Judicial  Districts.  Judge  DuHKwas 
appointed  for  the  Western  District,  Judge  Irwih  for  the  Mid¬ 
dle,  and  Judge  Frazier,  of  Pennsylvania,  for  the  Eastern. 
Judge  Frazier  arrived  in  Milwaukee  on  a  Sunday  evening,  in 
June,  1837.  He  put  up  at  the  small  hotel  which  stood  where 
“  Dickerman’s  Block  ”  now  stands,  which  was  called  the  *  * 

*  *  Tavern,  kept  by  Mr.  Vail.  On  his  arrival  he  fell  in 

with  some  old  Kentucky  friends,  who  invited  him  to  a  private 
room,  for  the  purpose  of  participating  in  an  innocent  game  of 
“poker”  The  party  consisted  of  the  Judge,  Col.  Mortoh, 
Register  of  the  Land  Office,  and  two  or  three  others  —  friends 
of  the  Judge.  They  commenced  playing  for  small  sums  at 
first,  but  increased  them  as  the  hours  passed,  until  the  dawn  of 
day,  the  next  morning  —  when  small  sums  seemed  beneath  their 
notice.  The  first  approach  of  day  was  heralded  to  them  by 
the  ringing  of  the  bell  for  breakfast.  The  Judge  made  a  great 
many  apologies,  saying,  among  other  things,  that  as  that  was 
his  first  appearance  in  the  Territor3q  and  as  his  court  opened  at 
4  * 


42 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


10  o’clock  that  morning,  he  must  have  a  little  time  to  prepare 
a  charge  to  the  Grand  Jury.  He  therefore  hoped  that  thejr 
would  excuse  him,  which  they  accordingly  did,  and  he  with¬ 
drew  from  the  party.  The  court  met  at  the  appointed  hour  — 
Owen"  Aldrich  acting  as  sheriff,  and  Cyrus  Hawley  as  clerk. 
The  Grand  Jury  was  called  and  sworn.  The  Judge  with  much 
dignity  commenced  his  charge;  and  never  before  did  we  hear 
such  a  charge  poured  forth  from  the  bench!  After  charging 
them  upon  the  laws  generally,  he  alluded  to  the  statute  against 
gambling.  The  English  language  is  too  barren  to  describe  his 
abhorrence  of  that  crime.  Among  other  extravagancies,  he 
said,  that  u  a  gambler  was  unfit  for  earth,  heaven  or  hell;  ”  and 
that  u  God  Almighty  would  even  shudder  at  the  sight  of  one.” 

“  At  that  time,  we  had  but  one  session  of  the  Legislature, 
which  had  adopted  mostly  the  statutes  of  Michigan,  which  al¬ 
lowed  the  court  to  exercise  its  discretion  in  granting  stays 
of  executions,  etc.  A  suit  came  up  against  a  man  in  the  Sec¬ 
ond  ward,  who  had  no  counsel.  The  Judge  ordered  the  crier 
to  call  the  defendant.  He  did  so,  and  the  defendant  appeared. 
The  Judge  asked  him  if  he  had  anything  to  say  against  judg¬ 
ment  being  rendered  against  him.  He  replied,  that  he  did  not 
know  that  he  had,  as  it  was  an  honest  debt,  but  that  he  was  un¬ 
able  to  pay  it.  The  Judge  inquired  what  his  occupation  was. 
He  replied  that  he  was  a  fisherman.  Says  the  Judge,  “  Can  you 
pay  it  in  fish?”  The  defendant  answered,  that  “he  did  not 
know  but  he  could,  if  he  had  time  to  catch  them.”  The  Judge 
turned  to  the  clerk,  and  ordered  him  to  “  enter  up  a  judgment, 
payable  in  fish,  and  grant  a  stay  of  execution  for  twelve 
months;”  at  the  same  time  remarking  to  the  defendant,  that 
he  must  surely  pay  it  at  the  time,  and  in  good  fish ;  for  he  would 
not  be  willing  to  wait  so  long  for  “  stinking  fish.”  The  next  suit 
worthy  of  note,  was  against  Wm.  M.  Dehhis,  our  present  Bank 
Comptroller  (1854-57.)  He,  like  his  predecessor,  had  no  counsel. 
His  name  was  called,  and  he  soon  made  his  appearance.  He  en¬ 
tered  the  court  room,  wearing  his  usual  smile,  whittling,  with 
his  knife  in  the  left  hand.  The  court  addressed  him  in  a 
loud  voice,  “  What  are  you  grinning  about,  Mr.  Dehhis  ?  ”  Mr. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


43 


D.  replied,  that  he  was  not  aware  that  he  was  laughing.  The 
court  inquired  if  he  proposed  to  offer  any  defense  ?  He  replied 
that  he  did,  hut  was  not  ready  for  trial.  “No  matter,”  said  the 
Judge,  “there’s  enough  that  are  ready;  the  clerk  will  enter  it 
4  continued.’  ”  The  next  case,  about  which  we  recollect,  was 
the  trial  of  two  Indians,  who  were  indicted  for  murdering  a 
man  on  Rock  River.  They  were  also  indicted  for  an  assault 
with  intent  to  kill,  upon  another  man,  at  the  same  time.  The 
trial  for  murder  came  off  first.  They  were  found  guilty,  and 
sentenced  to  be  hanged.  On  the  day  following  they  wfere  tried 
for  the  assault,  etc.,  found  guilty,  and  sentenced  to  five  years’ 
imprisonment,  and  to  pay  a  fine  of  five  hundred  dollars  each. 
Governor  Dodge,  however,  deeming  it  too  severe  to  fine  and 
imprison  a  man  after  he  was  hanged,  commuted  it  to  imprison¬ 
ment  for  life.  The  Indians  were  confined  in  a  jail  a  year  or 
two,  but  were  finally  pardoned  by  the  Governor. 

44  Judge  Frazier  soon  afterwards  went  to  Green  Bay,  and 
held  a  court,  from  whence,  for  want  of  a  jail  in  which  to  con¬ 
fine  prisoners,  he  sentenced  a  man,  for  some  trifling  offence,  44  to 
be  banished  to  Turkey  River.”  After  the  court  adjourned,  he 
returned  to  Milwaukee  on  the  steamboat  Pennsylvania.  She 
anchored  in  the  bay,  and  the  Judge,  who  was  dead  drunk  at  the 
time,  was  lowered  by  means  of  a  tackle,  into  a  boat,  and  rowed 
to  the  landing,  at  Walker’s  Point.  From  the  effect  of  this 
bacchanalian  revel  he  never  recovered.  His  friend,  Col.  Mor¬ 
ton,  took  him  to  his  own  house,  called  to  his  aid  our  best  phy¬ 
sicians,  and  all  was  done  that  human  skill  could  devise,  for  the 
restoration  of  his  health;  but  it  was  too  late;  the  seeds  of  death 
had  been  sown;  he  lingered  in  great  distress  for  four  or  five 
days,  and  breathed  his  last.*  The  members  of  the  bar,  gener¬ 
ally,  neglected  to  attend  the  funeral;  and  having  no  relatives 
in  the  state,  he  hardly  received  a  decent  burial.  His  remains 
were  followed  to  their  last  resting  place  by  only  two  members 
of  the  bar,  (Messrs.  Arnold  and  Crocker,)  besides  a  few  friends. 

*  Hon.  William  C.  Frazier,  Associate  Judge  for  the  Territory  of  Wis¬ 
consin,  died  at  Milwaukee,  October  i8th,  1838,  aged  sixty-two  years. — 
American  Almanac,  1840. 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  ARD  THE 


44 

they  now  remain  in  the  old  chnrch  yard  in  the  First  Ward, 
without  even  a  slab  to  mark  the  spot. 

—  “  The  above  sketch  was  written  by  us  from  memory,  for 
the  Wisconsin ,  last  summer.  We  now  republish  it  for  the 
purpose  of  doing  simple  justice  to  the  living,  by  adding  that 
we  have  since  learned  that  a  son  of  Judge  Frazier  came  to 
Milwaukee  some  years  since,  and  had  the  remains  of  his  father 
removed  to  the  new  church  yard  in  the  Fifth  Ward,  and  prop¬ 
er  tomb-stones  erected  over  them. 


“December  6,  1854.” 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


45 


CHAPTER  II. 

Location  of  Seat  of  Government  —  Territorial  Organization  — 
Hon.  M.  M.  Strong’s  Early  Surveys  —  Visit  of  A,  F.  Pratt, 
1837  —  Arrival  of  Eben  Peck  and  Family  —  Featherston- 
haugh’s  Visit,  1837 — Arrival  of  A.  A.  Bird  and  Party  —  W. 
Woolcock’s  Account  —  Description  of  Old  Capitol  —  Madison 
Hotel  —  Names  of  Workmen  —  S.  Mills’  Arrival  —  Account 
of  Early  Buildings  —  Mrs.  Roseline  Peck’s  Recollections. 

As  tlie  history  of  Madison  is  intimately  connected  with  the  lo¬ 
cation  of  the  seat  of  government,  it  will  he  necessary  to  give  a 
brief  account  of  the  organization  of  the  Territory,  for  a  better 
understanding  of  subsequent  events. 

Hon.  M.  M.  Strong,  in  his  address  in  1870,  before  the  State 
Historical  Society,  on  “  Territorial  Legislation  in  Wisconsin,” 
gives  a  full  account  .of  the  organization,  and  from  it  the  follow- 
wing  extracts  have  been  taken : 

“  The  Territorial  Government  was  established  by  act  of  Con¬ 
gress  approved  April  20,  1836,  and  embraced  within  its  bounda¬ 
ries  all  the  territory  now  included  in  the  present  states  of  Wis¬ 
consin,  Iowa  and  Minnesota,  and  a  part  of  Dakota.  Gen. 
Henry  Dodge  was  appointed  Governor,  J.  S.  Horner  Secretary, 
with  Chas.  Dunn  Chief  Justice,  and  other  officers.  These  per¬ 
sons  took  the  prescribed  oath  of  office  July  4.  A  census  of  the 
population  was  soon  after  taken,  and  the  time  of  election 
appointed  for  October  10.  The  election  excited  considerable 
interest,  growing  chiefly  out  of  local  considerations.  The  per¬ 
manent  location  of  the  seat  of  government,  the  division  of 
counties,  and  the  location  of  county  seats,  were  questions  that 
chiefly  influenced  the  election,  while  the  views  of  candidates  in 
relation  to  national  politics  had  little  or  no  influence  upon  the 
results.  The  Governor,  by  proclamation,  appointed  the  village 
of  Belmont  as  the  place  for  the  first  session  of  the  Legislature, 
and  October  25th  as  the  time  for  the  meeting. 


46 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


“  The  great  and  paramount  question  of  the  session  was  the 
location  of  the  seat  of  government.  To  this  all  others  were 
subordinate  and  made  subservient.  The  wild  spirit  of  specu¬ 
lation,  which,  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  year  1836,  had,  like  a 
tornado,  swept  over  the  whole  country,  and  which,  having  in¬ 
vaded  and  unsettled  the  prices  of  every  species  of  personal 
property,  seized  upon  the  unsold  public  domain,  which  was 
transferred  by  millions  of  acres  from  the  control  of  the  govern¬ 
ment  and  the  occupation  of  the  settler,  to  the  dominion  of  the 
speculator;  although  on  the  wane  in  the  last  months  of  that 
year,  was  still  omnipotent,  and  exerted  a  marked  influence  upon 
many  of  the  members  of  the  Belmont  Legislature. 

“  Numerous  speculators  were  in  attendance  with  beautiful  maps 
of  prospective  cities,  whose  future  greatness  was  portrayed  with 
all  the  fervor  and  eloquence  which  the  excited  imagination  of 
their  proprietors  could  display.  Madison,  Belmont,  Fond  du 
Lac  and  Cassville  were  the  points  which  were  more  prominently 
urged  upon  the  consideration  of  the  members.  Hon.  James 
Duane  Doty,  afterwards  a  delegate  in  Congress,  and  Governor 
of  the  Territory,  and  more  recently  Governor  of  Utah,  where  he 
died,  had  resided  for  many  years  at  Green  Bay  as  additional 
Judge  of  Michigan  Territory.  His  frequent  journeys  in  dis¬ 
charge  of  his  judicial  duties,  in  the  different  parts  of  the  Terri¬ 
tory,  had  rendered  him  familiar  with  its  geography  and  topog¬ 
raphy,  and  had  given  him  superior  advantages  for  judging  of 
the  eligibility  of  different  points,  as  sites  for  the  capitol  of  the 
Territory  and  future  State.  Judge  Doty  fixed  upon  the  isthmus 
between  the  Third  and  Fourth  of  the  Four  Lakes,  and  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  Stevens  T.  Mason,  the  Governor  of  Michigan  Ter¬ 
ritory,  purchased  from  the  government  about  one  thousand 
acres  in  sections  13,  14,  23  and  24,  upon  the  common  corner  of 
which  the  capitol  now  stands.  Upon  this  tract  of  land  a  town 
plat  was  laid  out,  called  Madison,  and  under  the  auspices  of  its 
founder  became  a  formidable  competitor  for  the  honors  and  ad¬ 
vantages  of  being  selected  as  the  seat  of  government.  Madison 
town  lots  in  large  numbers  were  freely  distributed  among  mem¬ 
bers,  their  friends,  and  others  who  were  supposed  to  possess  in¬ 
fluence  with  them. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


47 


“  Nearly  four  weeks  were  spent  in  skirmishing  outside  the 
legislative  halls,  when,  on  the  21st  of  November,  the  battle  was 
formally  opened  in  the  council,  and  the  bill  considered  in  Com¬ 
mittee  of  the  Whole  until  the  23d,  when  it  was  reported  back 
in  the  form  in  which  it  became  a  law,  fixing  upon  Madison  as 
the  seat  of  government,  and  providing  that  the  sessions  of  the 
Legislative  Assembly,  should  be  held  at  Burlington,  in  Des 
Moines  county,  until  March  4,  1839,  unless  the  public  buildings 
at  Madison  should  be  sooner  completed. 

“  When  the  bill  was  reported  back  by  the  committee  of  the 
whole,  and  was  under  consideration  in  the  Council,  where  the 
ayes  and  noes  could  be  called,  spirited  attack  was  made  upon 
it,  and  motions  to  strike  out  Madison  and  insert  some  other  places 
were  successively  made  in  favor  of  Fond  du  Lac,  Dubuque,  Portage 
Helena,  Milwaukee,  Racine  Belmont,  Mineral  Point,  Platteville, 
Green  Bay,  Cassville,  Belleview,  Koshkonong,  Wisconsinapo- 
lis,  Peru  and  Wisconsin  City;  but  all  with  one  uniform  result 
—  ayes  6,  noes  7 ;  and  the  bill  was  by  the  same  vote  ordered  en¬ 
grossed,  and  the  next  day  passed  the  Council.  In  the  House  of 
Representatives  the  opposition  was  not  so  formidable,  and  on 
the  28th,  the  bill  was  ordered  to  a  third  reading  by  a  vote  of  16 
to  10,  and  passed  the  same  day,  15  to  11  —  thus  ending  one  of 
the  most  exciting  struggles  ever  witnessed  in  the  Territory  of 
Wisconsin.” 

By  Section  3  of  the  act  establishing  the  seat  of  govern¬ 
ment,  the  sum  of  $20,000  was  appropriated  for  building  the 
capitol  building,  and  three  commissioners  were  required  to  be 
chosen  by  joint  ballot ;  to  cause  necessary  public  buildings  to 
be  erected  at  Madison  ;  to  agree  upon  a  plan  of  said  buildings, 
and  contract  for  their  erection;  one  of  their  number  to  be 
treasurer,  another  acting  commissioner  to  superintend  the  erec¬ 
tion  of  the  buildings.  In  pursuance  of  this  act,  on  the  7th  of 
December,  Augustus  A.  Bird,  James  Duane  Doty  and  John 
F.  O’Neill,  were  elected  commissioners,  and,  at  their  first 
meeting,  Mr.  Bird  was  chosen  acting  commissioner  and  Mr. 
Doty,  treasurer.  The  further  history  of  the  erection  of  the  cap¬ 
itol  building  will  be  continued  hereafter. 


48 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


On  tlie  19th  of  January,  1837,  the  newly  located  seat  of 
government  was  visited  by  Hon.  Moses  M.  Strong*  of  Mineral 
Point;  Mr.  Levi'  R.  Marsh,  who  afterwards  lived  for  many 
years  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  a  Mr.  Potter  from  the  east,  who 
soon  after  returned  and  has  not  since  resided  in  Wisconsin. 
These  three  gentlemen  left  Milwaukee  on  horseback  on  .the  16th 
of  January,  and  traveling  by  the  way  of  Prairie  Village  (Wau¬ 
kesha),  Bark  river,  Fort  Atkinson  and  the  half-breed’s  on  the 
First  Lake,  they  arrived  at  Madison  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
19th.  They  spent  the  night  of  the  18th  at  the  half-breed’s  on 
the  First  Lake,  where  they  were  hospitably  entertained  and 
feasted  with  the  luxury  of  a  mnsk-rat  pie.  From  this  place, 
following  the  Indian  trail  along  the  east  and  north  bank  of 
the  Second  Lake  (Lake  Wanbesa),  they  reached  the  south¬ 
eastern  bank  of  the  Third  Lake  (Lake  Monona),  near  its  outlet. 
Their  object  being  to  find  Madison,  which  as  yet  presented  no 
indications  to  mark  its  precise  locality,  except  the  marks  and 


*  Hon.  Moses  M.  Strong,  son  of  Hon.  Moses  Strong  and  Lucy  Maria 
Smith,  was  born  at  Rutland,  Vermont,  May  20,  1810,  was  educated  and 
graduated  at  Darmouth  College,  in  1829,  studied  law  at  the  Law  School 
at  Litchfield'  Connecticut,  under  the  charge  of  Judge  Gould,  in  1831.  He 
practiced  his  profession  at  Rutland  (1831-6).  In  1833  appointed  Deputy 
Surveyor  General  of  Vermont.  In  1836  he  removed  to  Wisconsin  and 
settled  at  Mineral  Point,  where  he  opened  a  law  and  land  agency  connected 
with  surveying.  In  1837  he  was  appointed  to  survey  United  States  gov¬ 
ernment  lands  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  river.  From  1838  to 
1841  he  was  United  States  Attorney  for  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin ;  a 
Member  of  the  Council  of  the  Territory,  1841-2-3,  and  President,  a  Mem¬ 
ber  1843-4,  a  Member  and  President  1846;  a  member  of  the  first 

constitutional  convention  to  form  a  state  constitution.  In  1849  and  again 
in  1856  was  elected  a  member  of  House  of  Representatives,  and  was  in  1850 
the  Speaker  of  the  Assembly.  In  1852  he  was  largely  interested  in  rail¬ 
road  enterprises  and  has  been  President  of  the  La  Crosse  and  Milwaukee 
Railroad  and  the  Mineral  Point  Railroad.  He  has  also  been  interested  in 
the  improvement  of  water-powers  on  the  Wisconsin  river,  and  also  in  the 
developement  of  the  lead  mines  in  the  vicinity  of  Mineral  Point.  Mr. 
Strong  was  married  in  1832  to  Caroline  Francis  Green,  daughter  of  Dr. 
Green,  Windsor,  Vermont,  and  has  four  children.  Residence  Mineral 
Point. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


49 


monuments  left  by  the  government  surveyors.  Mr.  Str&ntg  had 
furnished  himself  with  an  accurate  copy  of  the  government 
plats  which  exhibited  all  the  bays,  capes  and  headlands  of  the 
lakes,  and  sitting  on  his  horse,  on  an  elevated  point  of  the 
shore  of  the  lake  he  had  reached,  he  could,  with  his  field  glass, 
observe  all  of  them  within  the  range  of  his  vision.  Having 
fixed  upon  a  certain  bay  in  a  northwesterly  direction,  and  upon 
the  opposite  side  of  the  Third  Lake  as  the  one  where  a  section 
line  would  probably  intersect  the  shore,  the  exploring  party 
after,  with  some  difficulty,  getting  their  horses  upon  the 
ice,  took  a  straight  course  for  the  selected  bay,  and  were  so. 
fortunate  as  to  hit  the  meander  post  set  by  the  government 
surveyors  about  four  years  previously,  and  which  marked  the 
intersection  with  the  lake  of  the  section  line  between  sections 
thirteen  and  twenty-four.  Following  up  this  section  line, 
along  what  is  now  the  center  of  King  street,  the  party  soon 
came  to  the  corner  of  sections  thirteen,  fourteen,  twenty-three 
and  twenty-four,  which  is  the  center  of  the  capitol  park,  and 
upon  which  the  capitol  stands.  After  remaining  a  short  time 
and  admiring  the  natural  beauty,  of  the  site  so  recently  made 
by  law  the  seat  of  government,  this  exploring  party  undertook 
to  cross  the  Fourth  Lake  on  the  ice  in  search  of  St.  Cyr,  of 
whom  they  had  been  told  at  the  First  Lake,  where  they  spent 
the  previous  night,  and  with  whom  they  intended  to  spend  this 
night.  By  some  mistake  or  misunderstanding,  the  party, 
instead  of  going  to  the  west  end  of  the  lake,  went  to  the 
extreme  north  end,  and  of  course  missed  the  log  cabin  of  St. 
Cyr,  of  which  they  were  in  search,  and  leaving  the  lake  at 
the  north  end,  they  took  a  westerly  course,  hoping  to  find  the 
wagon  road  from  Fort  Winnebago  to  the  Blue  Mounds,  but 
the  track  was  so  obscured  by  the  snow  that  they  crossed  it 
without  noticing  it,  and  traveled  on  until  night  overtook  them, 
when  they  were  compelled  to  pass  the  night  without  food  or 
shelter  for  themselves  or  horses.  The  next  morning  Mr. 
Strong  found  a  section  corner,  and  thus  learned  that  they  had 
gone  several  miles  out  of  their  way,  and  had  spent  the  night 
on  section  twenty-one,  town  eight,  range  eight  east,  which  is 


50 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


now  the  Ashton  postoffice,  in  the  town  of  Springfield.  They 
soon  got  the  correct  course  and  went  on  to  the  Blue  Mounds, 
and  thence  to  Mineral  Point. 

During  that  winter  Judge  Doty  had  employed  Mr.  Strong, 
who  was  a  surveyor  as  well  as  lawyer,  to  survey  and  stake  off 
the  capitol  square  and  some  lots  in  the  vicinity.  On  the  17th 
of  February,  Mr.  John  Catlin  and  himself  started  from  Min¬ 
eral  Point  to  perform  this  work,  and  spent  that  night  at  the 
house  of  John  Messersmith,  Esq.,  about  twelve  miles  east  of 
Mineral  Point,  where  they  engaged  the  assistance  of  his  son 
George  Messersmith,  who,  five  years  later,  was  appointed 
sheriff  of  Iowa  county  by  Judge  Doty,  then  Governor  of  the 
Territory.  Before  the  surveying  party  started  they  were  joined 
by  Josiah  A.  Noonan,  Esq.,  who  desired  to  have  some  survey¬ 
ing  done  on  land  in  which  he  had  an  interest,  west  of  and  ad¬ 
joining  Madison,  and  lying  partly  upon  what  was  called  the 
“  Little  Lake  ”  (Lake  Wingra).  Mr.  Noonan  brought  Mr. 
Strong  a  letter  from  Judge  Doty,  with  which  we  have  been 
furnished. 

Mr.  Strong  furnished  us  his  diary  kept  during  this  survey, 
and  which  is  as  follows: 

“February  17.  Bought  surveying  chain,  shirt  and  gloves, 
and  same  day  started  with  Mr.  Catlin  for  Madison  and  staid 
at  Messersmith’s.  Mr.  J.  A.  Noonan  joined  us,  bringing  a 
letter  from  Judge  Doty,  and  will  go  with  us  to  Madison. 

“  February  18.  Bought  at  Brigham’s  provisions  for  the  ex¬ 
cursion  at  $15.00,  and  went  on  to  Steel’s,  on  Haney’s  creek 
(this  was  near  the  Cross  Plains  station  on  Black  Earth  creek), 
Noonan  and  George  Messersmith  in  company. 

“  February  19.  Went  to  St.  Cyr’s  and  finished  Noonan’s 
work  on  north  side  of  Fourth  Lake,  and  slept  at  St.  Cyr’s. 

u  February  20.  Finished  meanders  on  Fourth  and  Little 
Lake,  and  camped  on  Little  Lake. 

“  February  21.  Finished  Noonan’s  meanders  on  Third  Lake, 
and  he  paid  me  $70  for  myself  and  Catlin,  and  then  com¬ 
menced  Doty’s  work  at  Madison. 

“  February  22.  Continued  Doty’s  work  at  Madison.  Camped 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


51 


there  (the  camp,  which  was  only  the  lee  side  of  a  large  fallen 
oak  tree  —  was  on  the  shore  of  the  Fourth  Lake,  near  the  foot  of 
Hamilton  street),  and  at  daylight  were  driven  off  by  a  severe 
snow-storm,  and  went  to  St.  Cyr’s  and  spent  the  day. 

“  February  23.  Remained  at  St.  Cyr’s  by  reason  of  the  snow 
storm. 

“  February  24.  Continued  Doty’s  work  at  Madison,  and 
camped  there. 

u  February  25.  Continued  Doty’s  work  at  Madison,  and 
went  to  St.  Cyr’s. 

“February  26.  Returned  to  Madison  and  finished  all  of 
Doty’s  work  west  of  canal,  and  then  went  to  Rowan’s  and 
slept,  having  paid  St.  Cyr  $13.50.  Rowan  lived  about  twelve 
miles  south  of  Fort  Winnebago,  where  is  now  Poynette,  on 
the  Madison  and  Portage  Railroad.  ” 

From  Rowan’s,  the  surveying  party  took  the  Wisconsin  river 
and  followed  down  on  it  to  Helena,  and  thence  by  land  to  Min¬ 
eral  Point.  This  work  of  surveying  was  the  starting  point  of 
settlement,  and  was  soon  after  followed  by  the  erection  of  a  log 
house  by  Mr.  Ebenezer  Peck. 

In  the  month  of  February,  Alex.  F.  Pratt,  Esq.,  now  of 
Waukesha,  in  company  with  Augustus  Story,  started  on  a 
tour  to  the  mining  regions.  Passing  through  Prairie  village, 
now  W aukesha,  they  proceeded  by  the  way  of  Fort  Atkinson 
and  thence  to  the  Catfish  river,  near  the  present  site  of  Dun¬ 
kirk.  Here  they  encamped,  building  a  fire,  which  they  kept  up 
till  morning,  on  account  of  the  wolves,  which  watched  them 
closely.  The  next  morning  they  proceeded  up  the  river,  know¬ 
ing  that  it  would  lead  them  to  the  Fourth  Lake,  where  there 
were  several  wigwams,  and  where  they  could  obtain  something 
to  eat,  even  if  it  was  not  of  the  choicest  kind.  We  quote  from 
Mr.  Pratt’s  narrative: 

“  At  about  noon  we  reached  the  First  Lake,  and  seeing  moc¬ 
casin  tracks  in  the  snow,  we  followed  them  for  a  short  distance 
to  a  wigwam,  but  found  it  tenantless.  After  searching  it  from 
top  to  bottom,  we  found  a  few  cold  roasted  potatoes,  which,  we 
assure  you  (after  having  fasted  for  twenty-four  hours),  relished 


52  HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 

well.  We  remained  in  this  wigwam  an  hour  or  two,  and  then 
passed  on  to  the  point  where  Madison  is  now  located.  At  that 
time,  neither  the  ax,  nor  “  the  shovel  and  the  hoe,”  had  been 
hung  up  or  laid  down  in  that  vicinity.  It  was  nearly  sundown 
when  we  crossed  the  Third  Lake.  After  traveling  over  the  first 
eminence  —  where  the  capitol  now  stands  —  we  struck  a  ravine 
(between  capitol  square  and  the  present  site  of  the  University), 
where  we  made  a  halt,  struck  up  a  fire,  and  encamped  for  the 
night,  without  even  making  any  inquiry  about  supper.  The 
cold  potatoes  which  we  ate  at  noon,  supplied  the  place  of 
breakfast,  dinner  and  supper.  The  weather  had  moderated  a 
little,  which,  together  with  the  hardships  of  the  journey,  and 
our  extreme  fatigue,  caused  us  to  sleep  quite  comfortably  dur¬ 
ing  the  night.  The  next  morning  we  crossed  Fourth  Lake,  a 
distance  of  about  four  miles,  where  we  saw  a  small  log  cabin, 
which  was  the  first  building  of  the  kind  we  had  seen  since  leav¬ 
ing  Fort  Atkinson.  We  knocked  at  the  door,  but  all  was  si¬ 
lent.  We  were  both  cold  and  hungry,  and  the  sight  of  a  cabin 
was  some  relief.  We  did  not  wait  for  ceremony,  but  bolted  in, 
where  we  found  a  squaw  and  some  four  or  five  pappooses.  We 
spoke  to  her  in  the  Pottawatamie  language,  but  she  made  no 
reply.  We  were  soon  satisfied  that  she  did  not  understand  us. 
We  then  made  all  the  signs  that  our  Indian  education  or  inge¬ 
nuity  would  admit  of,  to  show  her  that  we  were  hungry;  but  all 
in  vain.  We  expected  that  her  husband  would  soon  come  in 
and  kick  us  out  of  doors,  without  waiting  for  an  explanation,  and 
were  at  a  loss  what  to  do.  A  white  man,*  however,  soon  came 
in,  spoke  to  us  in  good  English,  and  seemed  glad  to  see  us.  He 
informed  us  that  he  was  a  Canadian,  that  the  squaw  was  his 
wife,  and  that  the  children  were  also  his.  The  squaw  belonged 
to  the  Winnebago  tribe,  and  spoke  a  different  language  from 
the  other  Indians  in  the  vicinity. 

u  He  had  been  an  Indian  trader  there  for  years.  The  lands 
which  he  had  cultivated  had  been  sold  without  his  knowledge; 
for,  in  fact,  he  took  no  interest  in  anything  except  trading  in 
furs,  etc.  His  wife  on  being  made  acquainted  with  our  wants, 


*  Michael  St.  Cyr. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


53 


flew  around  and  prepared  for  us  a  supper.  It  was  a  kind  of 
pot-pie,  which  we  relished  very  well.  After  finishing  our  meal, 
we  inquired  what  kind  of  meat  we  had  eaten,  and  were  informed 
that  it  was  mush-rat.  We  remained  there  till  morning,  and 
then  left  for  the  Blue  Mounds.” 

The  year  1837  is  memorable  as  the  beginning  of  the  perma¬ 
nent  settlement  of  Madison.  The  Indians  who  up  to  this 
date  had  nominal  possession,  became  aware  that  they  must 
move  to  other  homes ;  the  country  to  be  reclaimed  from  barba¬ 
rism  and  subdued  to  the  wants  and  requirements  of  civilized  life. 
We  have  before  referred  to  the  purchase  of  this  location  by 
Doty  and  Mason,  and  of  its  selection  as  the  site  for  the  seat  of 
government. 

In  the  month  of  April,  Eben  Peck*  and  his  wife  Bose- 
like  Peck  came  here  from  Blue  Mounds  and  became  the  first 
settlers.  J ohn  C  atlin,  Esq. ,  had  been  here  before  Mr.  Peck,  and 

*  A  more  particular  notice  of  the  pioneer  family  of  Madison  is  desirable. 
Eben  Peck  was  born  in  Shoreham,  Addison  county,  Vermont,  in  1804,  and 
was  taken  to  Middlebury,  Genesee,  now  Wyoming  county,  New  York,  by 
his  parents  when  quite  a  child;  and  on  his  return  to  Vermont  in  1827,  he 
established  himself  in  business  in  Middletown,  Rutland  county.  There  he 
was  married,  February  24, 1829,  to  Miss  Roseline  Willard,  a  native  of  Mid¬ 
dletown,  born  February  24,  1808;  the  wedding  taking  place  in  the  house 
in  which  she  was  born,  with  her  parents,  grandparents,  and  numerous 
friends  and  relatives  present.  In  1832  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Peck  moved  to  Mid¬ 
dlebury,  New  York,  and  thence,  as  Mrs.  Peck’s  statement  shows,  in  1836, 
to  Blue  Mounds. 

Mr.  Peck  went  to  California  and  Oregon  in  1844;  and  though  since  re¬ 
ported  as  in  Texas  or  New  Mexico,  is  supposed  to  have  been  massacred  by 
savages  when  crossing  the  piains. 

Mrs.  Peck’s  mother  was  Julia  Ann  Burnham;  and  her  grandmother 
Burnham,  (wife  of  John  Burnham,  an  able  lawyer  of  the  Bennington  bar), 
was  a  sister  of  Gen.  Isaac  Clark,  of  Castleton,  Vt.,  a  soldier  of  the  Revolu¬ 
tion,  known  as  Old  Rifle,  and  who  commanded  a  regiment  in  the  war  of 
1812,  making  a  successful  expedition  against  Massequoi,  Lower  Canada, 
October  12,  1813;  was  member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention,  and 
Judge  of  the  County  Court;  died  at  Castleton,  January  31,  1822,  aged  73. 
Gen.  Clark  was  the  grandfather  of  Hon.  Satterlee  Clark,  an  early  pioneer 
of  Wisconsin,  and  for  many  years  a  prominent  member  of  the  State 
Senate. 


54 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


had  put  up  a  log  house  on  the  ground  now  occupied  by  the 
United  States  Court  House  and  Post  Office,  hut  it  was  not  in 
use  until  after  Mr.  Peck’s  house  was  built  and  occupied.  Mrs. 
Peck  who  is  now  residing  at  Baraboo,  Wisconsin,  has  contri¬ 
buted  two  interesting  articles  on  her  early  life  experience  at 
Madison,  published  lirst  in  the  Baraboo  Republican,  in  March 
and  April,  1860,  which  were  subsequently  republished  with 
valuable  historical  notes  by  Dr.  L.  C.  Draper,  in  Vol.  6,  Col¬ 
lections  of  State  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin.  From  these 
papers  much  desirable  information  has  been  obtained,  and  from 
which  we  have  made  liberal  extracts.  Mrs.  Peck  has  also  at 
our  request  furnished  an  additional  paper.  These  reminiscen¬ 
ces  throw  much  light  on  pioneer  life  in  Madison,  and  will  be 
read  with  interest.  It  is  proper  to  state  that  the  two  first  pap¬ 
ers  were  called  out  by  the  fact  that  a  Mr.  Geo.  W.  Feathers- 
tokhaugh,  an  English  Geologist  employed  by  the  United  States 
Government,  to  make  geological  surveys  in  the  northwest,  on 
his  return  to  England  published  a  work  entitled  “  A  Canoe  voy¬ 
age  up  the  Minnay-sotor,  with  an  account  of  the  Lead  and  Cop¬ 
per  Regions  of  Wisconsin.  London,  1847.  2Yols.  8vo.”  In 
this  work  he  refers  to  his  visit  to  Madison,  an  account  of  which 
will  hereafter  be  given,  and  took  occasion  to  criticise  the  do¬ 
mestic  arrangements  of  Mrs.  Peck’s  house.  His  statements  in 
reference  thereto,  are  very  unjust  and  untrue.  While  at  Mad¬ 
ison  he  received  from  that  lady  every  attention  and  civility  that 
any  honorable  man  would  require,  but  he  was  a  fretful,  con¬ 
ceited  Englishman,  and  nothing  pleased  him  or1  was  good  enough 
for  him.  His  criticisms  on  her  table  and  accommodations, 
brought  from  Mrs.  Peck  the  communications  referred  to.  In 
quoting  from  them,  we  have  taken  the  liberty  to  omit  some 
portions. 

“We  came  direct  from  Genessee  county,  Hew  York,  via 
Buffalo,  Detroit,  Michigan  City  and  Chicago,  to  the  Blue 
Mounds,  at  which  place  we  arrived,  July,  1836  —  our  goods 
having  been  shipped  by  the  way  of  Green  Bay  and  the  port¬ 
age  (Fort  Winnebago).  The  two  forts  or  garrisons  were  then 
kept  at  those  points  and  the  Blue  Mounds,  being  situated  on 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


55 


the  old  military  road  from  Galena,  Mineral  Point  to  the  port¬ 
age,  there  was  considerable  travel.  A  postoffice  was  soon  after 
established  at  Col.  Brigham’s  place  at  the  Mounds.  We  took 
possession  of  his  house  with  every  thing  appertaining  thereto 
—  his  large  and  excellent  garden,  a  number  of  cows,  etc.,  and 
boarded  himself  and  his  farming  and  mining  hands,  during 
autumn  and  winter,  also  entertaining  travelers. 

u  On  the  return  of  the  northern  members  of  the  Belmont 
legislature  to  their  homes,  with  the  information  that  Madison 
had  been  selected  as  the  location  of  the  seat  of  government, 
Mr.  Peck  purchased  some  lots,  and  immediately  sent  hands 
and  teams  to  erect  three  large  rooms  or  buildings  for  their 
occupancy.  The  buildings  were  put  up  before  I  saw  them.” 

Of  the  buildings  as  erected,  and  her  commencement  of  house¬ 
keeping,  she  says: 

“  The  men  employed  to  erect  this  first  house,  were  two  French¬ 
men,  one  named  Joe  Pellkie,  the  name  of  the  other  is  for¬ 
gotten;  they  were  with  a  party  of  Winnebagoes  who  had  spent 
that  winter  at  the  largest  of  the  Blue  Mounds;  and  one  Abra¬ 
ham  Wood  superintended  the  work.  Wood  then  lived  at 
Strawberry  or  Squaw  Point  —  since  better  known  as  W inne- 
quah,  on  the  eastern  side  of  Third  Lake;  he  had  a  squaw 
wife,  a  daughter  of  the  Winnebago  chief  De  Kaury.  Wood 
subsequently  removed  to  Baraboo,  and  erected  a  saw-mill 
there.  During  the  erection  of  these  cabins,  which  was  in  March, 
Mr.  Peck  made  two  excursions  with  teams  to  Madison,  to 
carry  out  supplies,  and  give  directions  about  the  work;  there 
was  then  snow  on  the  ground,  and  the  lakes  were  frozen,  so 
that  Mr.  Peck  crossed  on  the  ice  to  Strawberry  Point,  to  stay 
over  night  at  Wood’s.  Pellkie  remained  in  and  around 
Madison  for  some  time;  at  one  time,  Berry  Hahey,  a  noted 
character,  shot  Pellkie  in  a  dispute  about  a  land  claim,  and 
when  last  heard  from,  Pellkie  was  still  carrying  the  ball  in 
his  back.  The  other  Frenchman,  the  companion  of  Pellkie 
in  building  our  cabins,  had  a  squaw  wife,  whose  brother  was 
stabbed  and  killed  on  the  beach  of  Third  Lake. 

“  In  March,  Mr.  Doty  and  lady  returned,  (their  residence  be- 


56 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


ing  at  Green  Bay),  and  put  up  over  night  with  us.  They  found 
a  decent,  clean  table,  a  thing  seldom  found  in  those  days.  I 
informed  Mrs.  Doty  that  we  were  going  to  settle  in  Madison. 
She  said  if  I  would  be  the  first  housekeeper  there,  I  should 
have  a  present,  and  my  choice  of  the  best  lot  in  the  place;  it 
was  also  confirmed  by  her  husband,  but,  by-the-by,  I  never  got 
it;  and  on  the  15th  of  April,  1837,  we  arrived  there,  and  as  we 
were  well  aware  what  our  business  would  be  when  settled,  we 
provided  ourselves  accordingly,  and  purchased  at  Mineral  Point 
over  one  hundred  dollars  worth  of  groceries,  as  I  have  the  bills 
now  to  show;  among  the  items  were  one  barrel  of  pork,  two  of 
flour,  one  of  crackers,  one  of  sugar,  half  barrel  dried  fruit  one 
box  of  tea,  and  as  good  a  sack  of  coffee  as  was  ever  brought  into 
the  State,  besides  a  half  barrel  of  pickles,  put  up  by  myself, 
also  a  tub  of  butter,  and  jars  of  plums  and  cranberries,  collected 
from  Blue  Mounds’  thickets.  All  these  were  carried  to  Madi¬ 
son  when  we  moved,  besides  a  good  load  of  potatoes.  I  also 
made  six  more  bed-ticks,  to  be  filled  with  grass  or  hay  as  occas¬ 
ion  required,  as  we  fetched  but  four  feather  beds  with  us. 

“We  started  from  Beigham’s  place,  at  the  Blue  Mounds,  on 
Thursday,  the  13th  of  April,  after  dinner,  with  our  teams,  I 
riding  an  Indian  pony.  We  traveled  about  seven  miles,  where 
some  person  had  made  a  claim,  and  had  laid  about  five  rounds 
of  logs  towards  a  cabin.  We  camped  therein  that  night  with  a 
tent  over  us.  The  next  day,  the  14th,  we  pushed  on — a  more 
pleasant  day  I  never  wish  to  see ;  but  I  had  a  severe  headache 
before  night.  We  pitched  our  tent  on  a  little  rise  of  ground, 
within  three  miles  of  Madison ;  spread  down  our  beds,  and  rest¬ 
ed  comfortably,  till  near  3  o’clock  on  Saturday  morning,  when 
we  were  awakened  by  a  tremendous  wind  storm,  and  howling 
of  wolves,  and  found  snow  five  or  six  inches  deep  which  contin¬ 
ued  to  fall  until  after  we  arrived  in  Madison. 

“  Well,  now,  here  we  are  at  Madison,  on  the  15th,  sitting  in 
a  wagon  under  a  tree,  with  a  bed-quilt  thrown  over  my  own 
and  little  boy’s  heads,  in  a  tremendous  storm  of  snow  and  sleet, 
twenty-five  miles  from  any  inhabitants  on  one  side  (Blue 
Mounds),  and  nearly  one  hundred  on  the  other  (Milwaukee). 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


57 


What  is  to  he  done?  Gfo  into  the  buildings  with  no  floors 
laid,  and  nothing  hut  great  sleepers  laid  across  to  walk  on? 
No;  I  must  have  the  buildings  plastered  with  lime,  and  floors 
laid  first  —  only  one  saw-mill  in  the  Territory,  and  that,  way 
up  in  the  Wisconsin  Pinery,  and  not  completed,  and  of  course 
no  lumber;  but  there  lies  a  pile  of  puncheons — just  build 
me  a  pen  under  this  tree,  and  move  in  my  stove,  and  we  will 
crawl  in  there.  Bure  enough,  we  soon  had  it  completed,  and 
a  fire  built.* 

u  Some  two  weeks  from  this  time,  or  about  the  first  of  May,  on 
a  pleasant  day,  there  were  about  fifteen  men  arrived  from  Mil¬ 
waukee,  to  look  a  road  through,  and  see  Madison.  Among  the 
number  were  A.  A.  Bird,  the  two  Pixleys,  merchants,  W.  M. 
Dexxts,  and  Col.  Mortoh,  of  the  Land  Office  —  but  I  cannot 
enumerate  names.  Well,  we  had  a  spacious  dining-room  — 
under  the  broad  canopy  of  heaven  —  where  I  spread  tables  for 
them.  A  portion  of  the  party,  the  hired  men,  set  out  on  their 
return  the  next  day.  We  immediately  sent  a  team  to  the  other 
side  of  Fourth  Lake,  where  there  had  been  some  hay  put  up 
by  a  party  of  half-breed  French  and  Indians,  and  got  a  load  of 
it,  with  which  we  filled  our  bed-ticks;  we  then  laid  down 
puncheons  in  one  end  of  one  of  the  buildings,  spread  down 
our  beds,  built  a  fire  of  chips  (hewn  from  the  logs)  at  the  other 
end  between  the  sleepers,  tacked  three  or  four  sheets  of  bed- 
curtains  around  the  walls,  and  there  they  rested;  and  they  staid 
with  us  three  or  four  days,  enjoying  themselves  hunting  and 
fishing  around  the  lakes,  and  looking  at  the  country;  and  then 
left  for  Mineral  Point,  or  perhaps  Galena;  and  in  eight  or  ten 
days  Bird  returned,  accompanied  by  Judge  Doty,  Ebexezer 
Brigham  and  others. 

“Judge  Doty  observed,  ‘Why  do  you  not  move  into  your 
house  ?  ’  ‘  Why,  my  dear  sir,1  I  replied,  ‘  I  must  have  it 

plastered  with  lime  first.1  Said  he,  ‘  we  do  not  know  as  there 
is  a  lime  quarry  within  a  hundred  miles  of  you,  and  you  need 

*  Henry  G.  Abbot,  Esq.,  of  Utica,  N.  Y.,  informed  the  writer  that  he, 
with  a  friend,  staid  one  night  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Peck  in  the  latter  part  of 
April,  1837,  —  before  Mr.  Bird’s  first  visit. 

5 


58 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


not  expect  to  live  in  this  pen  until  there  is  one  found  and 
burned.  No,  no,  you  must  move  in;  we  will  help  daub  up  the 
kitchen  part  on  the  outside  with  mud,  and  when  the  lime  is 
found  you  can  finish  the  inside  to  suit  you.1  So  at  it  they 
went,  (only  think,  Governors,  Esquires  and  Mayors,  in  pros¬ 
pective,  daubing  cabins !)  and  by  night  we  were  all  comfortably 
situated  in  the  kitchen.  And  this  is  the  room  in  which,  a 
week  subsequently,  the  great  Scotch-born  and  English-bred 
Featherstohhaugh  was  entertained.” 

“  The  size  of  this  room  was  twenty-four  feet  long  and  eight¬ 
een  or  twenty  wide  —  the  same  length  of  the  dining-room,  and 
situated  immediately  back  of  it, —  wherein  the}7  used  to  dance 
cotillions,  three  sets  at  the  same  time.  The  other  two  build¬ 
ings  were  joined  on  the  northeast  and  southeast  corners  of  the 
kitchen,  leaving  a  passage,  where  afterwards  was  erected  a 
frame  dining-room,  in  which  many  a  weary  traveler  and  hun¬ 
gry  wight  was  fed.” 

The  next  person  after  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Peck,  who  came  to 
Madison,  and  has  given  an  account  of  his  journey  and  experi¬ 
ences,  was  G.  W.  Featherstomhaugh,  recently  referred  to.  In 
coming  from  St.  Louis  in  this  direction,  he  heard  much  of  Ty- 
clio-be-rah ,  or  the  Four  Lakes,  and  elaborately  engraved  plans 
of  several  cities  in  their  vicinity  were  shown  him.  He  was  as¬ 
sured  that  they  were  flourishing  finely  —  Madison  in  particular 
was  represented  as  already  a  city.  Let  us  now  cite  his  graphic 
description  of  Madison  and  its  first  house,  which  he  gives  as 
follows,  under  date  May  30,  1837  —  passing  from  Dodgeville  to 
Col.  E.  Brigham’s,  at  the  Blue  Mounds,  to  dinner: 

u  Pursuing  our  journey  at  1  P.  M.,  we  passed  the  military 
road  leading  to  Fort  Winnebago  and  Navarino  (Green  Bay), 
and  soon  afterwards  got  into  one  of  the  most  exquisitely  beau¬ 
tiful  regions  I  have  ever  seen  in  any  part  of  the  world.  The 
prairie  that  had  hitherto  been  distinguished  by  a  regular  roll¬ 
ing  surface,  here  changed  its  character  and  took  the  form  of 
ridges,  somewhat  elevated,  which  frequently  resolved  themselves 
into  masses  of  gracefully  rounded  hills,  separated  by  gentle  de¬ 
pressions,  that  occasionally  became  deepened  valleys.  In  these, 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


59 


some  of  the  heads  of  a  stream  called  Sugar  river,  a  tributary 
of  Rock  river,  took  their  rise.  *  *  * 

“  The  aspect  of  this  lovely  country  at  once  accounted  for  so 
great  a  population  flocking  to  the  lakes,  on  whose  enchanting 
hanks  those  cities  were  founded  of  which  we  had  heard  so 
much,  and  to  which  we  were  now  advancing.  Four  noble 
lakes,  in  the  center  of  a  region  of  such  unrivalled  beauty,  must 
constitute  perfection  itself.  Our  expectations  were  exceedingly 
raised.  Every  movement  produced  a  new  excitement:  the  oc¬ 
casional  glimpse  of  the  shy  deer,  with  their  elegant  fawns,  and 
the  more  frequent  flushing  of  the  prairie-hen  from  her  nest, 
gave  animation  to  the  still  beauty  around  us.  Enraptured  with 
all  I  saw,  I  could  not  but  occasionally  reflect  on  the  oddity  of 
seven  large  cities,  each  capable  of  containing  a  population  of 
half  a  million  of  people,  have  congregated  so  close  together. 
There  was  Madison  City ,  which  was  the  metropolis;  adjacent 
to  this  was  the  City  of  the  Four  Lakes ,  a  short  distance  beyond 
this  was  the  city  of  North  Madison.  Close  upon  this  again 
was  the  city  of  East  Madison.  Then  there  was  the  city  of  West 
Madison  ,*  the  city  of  South  Madison,  and  the  City  of  the  First 
Lake ,  and  the  “  City  of  the  Second  Lake.”  f  Of  each  of  these 
I  had  a  beautiful  engraved  plan,  with  all  its  squares,  streets,  in¬ 
stitutions  and  temples.” 

In  the  vicinity  of  Madison  he  found  some  very  interesting 
mounds  and  other  interesting  Indian  monuments,  which  he  de¬ 
scribes,  and  continues: 

a  We  hastened  on,  as  the  day  was  drawing  to  a  close,  and  we 
had  yet  some  distance  to  go  to  Madison  City.  For  some  time 
I  had  kept  a  good  look-out  for  some  of  the  enterprising  farmers, 
who  must  have  come  from  great  distances  to  this  fertile  coun¬ 
try,  and  was  rather  surprised  that  we  should  hitherto  have  met 

*  The  “  City  of  West  Madison”  was  platted  and  recorded  June  23,  1837. 
The  proprietors  were,  Steptoe  Catlin,  Wm.  Glenny  and  Timothy  Johnson. 

f  “  The  City  of  the  Second  Lake  ”  was  owned  by  J.  P.  Arndt,  J.  W. 
Colton,  B.  W.  and  E.  W.  Edgerton,  S.  Juneau,  F.  W.  Hawley,  E.  G.  Bry¬ 
ant,  E.  Starr  and  S.  W.  Beardsley.  The  plat  of  the  city  was  recorded 
October  11,  1836. 


60 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


no  one.  We  had  not  passed  a  single  farm,  and  concluded  that, 
being  an  Indian  country,  the  settlers  had  clustered  round  the 
great  city  we  were  bound  to,  and  had  established  themselves 
near  that  lake  where  the  best  fish  abounded.  Fresh  fish!  pro¬ 
digious  varieties !  cat-fish,  pike,  pickerel,  salmon,  trout,  buffalo, 
perch!  What  anticipations  for  men  who  had  for  so  many  days 
been  bolting  pieces  of  tough  fat  bacon,  cured  1,000  miles  off. 
At  length  we  came  to  a  belt  of  open  trees,  and,  passing  through 
it,  we  reached  the  flat,  marshy  shores  of  the  largest  of  the  four 
lakes;  we  could  see  almost  entirely  around  it,  and  much  did  we 
look;  but,  alas!  no  vestige  of  human  dwelling  was  in  sight. 

“  This  considerably  changed  the  current  of  our  thoughts, 
and  materially  impaired  the  beauty  of  the  prospect.  Not  being 
disposed  to  express  all  we  felt,  we  reluctantly  took  to  the  woods 
again,  along  the  margin  of  the  lake,  in  the  hope  to  stumble 
upon  some  one  or  other.  Night  was  gradually  drawing  her 
veil  over  everything,  and  it  became  rather  doubtful  whether  we 
should  not  have  —  in  the  language  of  backwoodsmen  —  to 
camp  out.  Keeping,  therefore,  all  my  visions  of  fried  fish  in 
the  background  for  a  while,  I  felt  for  my  box  of  matches,  and, 
finding  it  safe,  turned  my  attention  —  as  old  Indian  travelers 
always  do  —  to  the  next  best  thing,  a  rousing  fire  to  lay  down 
by.  Black  clouds  were  forming  in  the  horizon;  we  had  been 
drenched  thoroughly  the  day  before,  and  it  became  pretty  cer¬ 
tain  there  would  be  another  storm.  Groping  our  way,  and  oc¬ 
casionally  jolting  over  the  fallen  trees,  we,  at  the  end  of  an 
hour  and  a  half,  got  to  the  shore  of  the  Third  Lake,  having 
somehow  or  other  missed  the  Second  Lake,  where  Madison  City 
was  supposed  to  be.  We  now  changed  our  course  again,  and 
keeping  to  the  northwest,  and  meandering,  and  wondering  and 
shouting  for  1113"  companion,  who  had  got  out  of  the  wagon  to 
follow  a  small  trail  he  thought  he  had  discovered,  I  at  length 
gave  up  the  attempt  to  proceed  any  further,  and,  selecting  a 
dry  tree  as  a  proper  place  to  bivouac  near,  had  already  stopped 
the  wagon,  when,  hearing  my  companion’s  voice  shouting  for 
me  in  a  tone  that  augured  something  new  to  be  in  the  wind,  I 
pushed  on  in  that  direction,  and  at  length  found  him  standing 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


61 


at  the  door  of  a  hastily  patched  up  log  hut,  consisting  of  one 
room  about  twelve  feet  square. 

This  was  Madison  City ,  and,  humble  as  it  was,  it  concen¬ 
trated  within  itself  all  the  urban  importance  of  the  seven  cities 
we  had  come  so  far  to  admire,  and  to  which,  according  to  our 
engraved  plans,  Ninevah  of  old,  Thebes,  with  its  hundred  gates, 
and  Persepolis,  were  but  baby-houses.  Not  another  dwelling 
was  there  in  the  whole  country,  and  this  wretched  contrivance 
had  only  been  put  up  within  the  last  four  weeks.  Having  se¬ 
cured  our  horses,  we  entered  the  grand  and  principal  entrance 
to  the  city,  against  the  top  of  which  my  head  got  a  severe 
blow,  it  not  being  more  than  five  feet  high  from  the  ground. 
The  room  was  lumbered  up  with  barrels,  boxes  and  all  manner 
of  things.  Amongst  other  things  was  a  hustling  little  woman, 
about  as  high  as  the  door,  with  an  astounding  high  cap  on, 
called  Mrs.  Peck.  *  *  * 

“  My  first  inquiry  was,  whether  she  had  any  fresh  fish  in  the 
house.  The  answer  was  ‘'No!7  Inflexible  and  unwelcome 
word.  No  fresh  fish!  no  large,  delicious  catfish,  of  twenty 
pounds  weight,  to  he  fried  with  pork  and  placed  before  the  vo¬ 
racious  traveler  in  quantities  sufficient  to  calm  those  apprehen¬ 
sions  that  so  often  arise  in  Indian  lands,  of  there  not  being 
enough  for  him  to  eat  until  he  falls  fast  asleep.  ‘  Why,  then,’ 
exclaimed  my  alarmed  companion,  1  whatTs  to  be  done  ?  ’  ‘I 
have  some  salt  pork,’  rejoined  our  little  hostess.  1  Then,  madam, 
you  must  fry  it  without  the  fish,’  I  replied.  So  to  the  old  busi¬ 
ness  we  went,  of  bolting  square  pieces  of  fat  pork,  an  amuse¬ 
ment  I  had  so  often  indulged  in,  that  I  sometimes  felt  as  if  I 
ought  to  be  ashamed  to  look  a  live  pig  in  the  face.  Our  land¬ 
lady,  however,  was  a  very  active  and  obliging  person;  she  said 
she  would  make  us  as  comfortable  as  it  was  possible  for  her 
to  do. 

“  Whilst  we  were  at  this  repast,  the  thunder  storm  broke  over 
us,  and  a  deluge  of  rain  came  down,  streaming  through  the  roof 
in  various  places.  In  the  midst  of  the  confusion  two  other 
vagabonds  came  in;  one  of  them  a  ruffian  looking  fellow,  who 
said  he  was  a  miner,  on  his  way  across  the  Indian  country  from 


62 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


Milwaukee;  the  other,  a  stupid,  boorish,  dirty-looking  animal, 
said  he  had  not  tasted  anything  for  two  days,  having  lost  his 
way  on  the  prairie;  and,  having  been  overtaken  the  preceding 
night  by  a  very  heavy  rain,  whilst  making  his  way  up  a  coulee 
or  vale,  had  been  afraid  to  lie  on  the  ground,  and  had  passed 
the  whole  night  sitting  on  a  fallen  tree.  Fortunately  there  was 
pork  enough  for  us  all.” 

On  the  tenth  day  of  June,  1837,  Augustus  A.  Bird,  the 
acting  commissioner  for  constructing  the  capitol,  accompanied  by 
a  party  of  thirty-six  workmen,  arrived.  There  was  no  road  at 
that  time  from  Milwaukee  to  the  capital,  and  the  party  were 
compelled  to  make  one  for  their  teams  and  wagons  as  they  came 
along.  They  left  Milwaukee  on  the  first  of  June  with  four 
teams.  It  rained  incessantly,  the  ground  drenched  with  water, 
and  was  so  soft  that  even  with  an  ordinary  road  their  progress 
would  have  been  slow,  but  when  to  this  are  added  the  obstruc¬ 
tions  of  fallen  trees,  unbridged  streams,  hills,  whose  steepness 
labor  had  not  yet  mitigated,  and  the  devious  course  which  they 
necessarily  pursued,  it  is  not  surprising  that  ten  days  were 
spent  in  accomplishing  a  journey,  which,  since  the  advent  of 
the  railroad  through  the  Four  Lake  country,  we  are  able  to  per¬ 
form  in  a  little  more  than  three  hours.  They  forded  Rock 
river  near  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Watertown,  and  the 
Crawfish  at  Milford.  The  first  glimpse  they  had  of  the  sun, 
during  their  journey,  was  on  the  prairie,  in  this  county,  now 
known  as  Sun  Prairie  —  a  name  given  it  at  that  time  as  a  com¬ 
pliment  to  the  luminary  which  beamed  forth  so  auspiciously 
and  cheerfully  on  that  occasion,  and  possibly  to  encourage  old 
Sol  to  persevere  in  well  doing. 

Mr.  William  Woolcock,  now  of  Jefferson,  Wisconsin,  was 
one  who  came  to  Madison  to  work  on  the  capitol  in  the  second 
arrival.  He  has  furnished  some  notes  of  his  coming  to  Wis¬ 
consin,  and  his  journey  here,  from  which  the  following  extracts 
are  taken: 

“  I  left  Adelaide,  Canada  West,  in  May,  1836,  to  visit  the 
western  territories,  and  came  by  the  way  of  Buffalo,  Detroit 
and  Chicago.  At  Chicago  I  found  one  brick  building,  the  Lake 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


63 


House,  and  thence  proceeded  to  Milwaukee,  where  I  arrived 
July  3,  which  contained  one  framed  house,  built  in  1835  by 
Solomon  Juneau.  After  spending  a  short  time  here  I  made 
an  arrangement  to  visit  Madison  to  work  at  my  trade  on  the 
capitol  building. 

“About  the  last  of  July  or  first  of  August,  1837,  we  started 
for  Madison  from  Milwaukee,  to  cut  the  stone  for  the  State 
House,  viz.:  Wm.  Seavier  and  brother,  Jesse  Bolden  and  G. 
Eggleston,  with  our  carpet  bags  and  some  tools  on  our  shoul¬ 
ders,  and  commenced  our  journey  in  the  morning  on  foot.  Before 
we  came  to  Prairieville  we  saw  a  large  rattlesnake  across  our 
path,  about  six  feet  long,  which  we  killed.  At  Prairieville  we 
found  one  log  house  and  an  Indian  camping  ground.  About 
five  miles  further  we  found  a  man  by  the  name  of  Pratt,  who 
had  a  claim  of  160  acres,  and  who  had  put  up  a  log  house,  and 
here  we  staid  over  night.  The  next  day  dined  with  a  family 
by  the  name  of  Brown,  who  had  also  a  claim  of  a  quarter  sec¬ 
tion.  Within  seven  or  eight  miles  of  the  rapids  of  Rock  river, 
near  Watertown,  we  found  three  brothers  by  the  name  of 
Setchell,  making  claims,  with  whom  we  staid  over  night. 
They  had  a  little  shanty  built  and  covered  with  bass  wood 
bark,  and  as  there  was  not  room  for  all  of  us,  Mr.  Seavier  and 
myself  got  some  long  pieces  of  bark  that  was  coiled  up  in  the 
sun,  pulling  the  bark  open  and  got  into  it;  it  curled  tight 
around  us,  and  so  we  got  clear  of  the  musquitoes  that 
night.  The  next  morning  we  started  for  Watertown,  where 
we  found  Mr.  Goodhue  preparing  to  buid  a  dam  and  a  sawmill. 
Here  we  took  breakfast  and  started  for  Lake  Mills,  at  which 
place  we  found  a  family  by  the  name  of  Atwood,  who  had  also 
made  a  claim  on  some  land,  and  built  a  log  house.  Here  we 
stopped  one  day  to  rest  and  to  prepare  for  the  forty  mile  trip 
’  to  Madison,  as  there  was  no  settler  this  side  of  that  place.  We 
proceeded  onward  on  the  Indian’s  and  Bird’s  trail,  and  came  to 
Sun  Prairie  where  we  got  a  lunch  and  some  water  and  started 
on.  At  ten  o’clock  at  night  we  came  to  the  camping  ground 
of  Bird  and  his  company  at  Madison,  tired,  dry  and  hungry. 
There  was  about  fifty  (?)  men  and  a  family  to  cook  for 


64 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


them.  They  expected  ns  and  were  glad  to  see  ns,  but  they  had 
eaten  all  the  provisions  they  brought  with  them  from  Mil¬ 
waukee,  and  Mr.  Bird  had  gone  to  Galena  with  the  teams  after 
pork  and  flour  and  other  supplies.  We  slept  at  the  building 
known  as  the  bedroom,  about  eighteen  feet  square  and  two 
stories  high  and  the  sleeping  births  were  all  around  the  sides, 
two  or  three,  one  above  the  other,  and  the  bedsteads  were 
made  out  of  small  oak  trees  and  covered  with  marsh  hay.  I 
thought  it  a  great  treat  after  walking  forty  miles,  and  the 
musquitoes  so  thick  that  the  men  made  a  fire  on  the  floor  to 
smoke  them  out.  Work  was  immediately  commenced,  and 
carried  on  during  the  summer  and  fall,  at  which  time  the  walls 
were  built  six  feet  above  the  ground  and  the  water  table  put 
in  place.  I  cut  the  corner  stone  and  Jesse  Bolder  laid  it. 
There  was  a  gathering  on  the  event.  A  good  many  persons  put 
in  their  deposits  under  it.  It  was  laid  on  the  southeast  corner 
of  the  building,  July  4,  1838.  The  foundation  was  completed 
in  November  and  a  small  celebration  was  held,  when  the 
work  was  stopped.  The  money  to  pay  the  hands  had  to  be 
brought  from  Green  Bay,  and  Mr.  Peck  was  sent  there  to  bring 
it.  The  men  usually  were  paid  monthly.  He  started  on  foot 
through  the  woods  alone  to  Green  Bay.  In  less  than  two 
weeks  he  came  back  with  the  paper  money.  He  had  to  swim 
the  rivers.  The  money  was  wet  and  we  had  to  wait  for  it  to 
dry  before  we  could  get  our  pay.  About  the  last  of  November 
we  started  on  foot  for  Milwaukee.  In  May,  1838,  Jesse  Boldem 
and  myself  went  to  Madison  to  finish  the  work,  and  the  con¬ 
tract  to  put  up  the  buiding  was  in  the  hands  of  James  Mor- 
risok  and  A.  A.  Bird,  Superintendent.  Mr.  Boldem  could 
not  agree  with  Mr.  Morrisok,  and  returned  to  Milwaukee.  I 
worked  all  summer  at  $70  per  month  —  cut  the  stone  arches  over 
the  front  doors  and  attended  the  building  generally.  The  rest 
of  the  stone  cutters  worked  by  the  foot.  In  November  the 
walls  were  up,  the  roof  on  and  the  assembly  and  senate  cham¬ 
bers  plastered  but  not  sufficiently  dry  for  the  sessions  of  he 
legislature,  which  were  held  for  a  while  in  the  American  Hotel 
building.” 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


65 


Of  the  party  that  came  with  Mr.  Bird,  we  shall  speak  more 
particularly  hereafter. 

The  workmen  on  their  arrival,  immediately  proceeded  to  erect 
temporary  houses  and  cabins  for  their  own  use,  the  most  of 
which  were  put  up  near  the  foot  of  King  street,  near  the  Third 
Lake.  The  buildings  were  not  of  the  highest  order  of  archi¬ 
tecture,  since  little  or  no  lumber  could  he  procured  except 
such  as  was  cut  with  a  whip-saw.  They  have  all  been  re¬ 
moved,  except  one  which  was  taken  to  another  location.  The 
excavation  for  the  foundation  walls  of  the  capitol  was  soon 
made,  and  the  workmen  proceeded  at  once  to  get  out  stone  and 
timber.  It  was  intended,  says  Judge  J.  G.  Knapp,  u  to  have  the 
building  erected  on  the  corners  of  the  four  sections,  or  the  exact 
centre  of  the  public  square,  hut  as  the  post  of  the  section  cor¬ 
ners  was  found  standing  on  the  west  edge  of  the  level  of  the 
square,  or  where  the  ground  begins  to  descend  to  the  west,  the 
ground  for  the  foundation  was  so  staked  off  that  the  corner 
should  he  under  the  west  door,  and  not  in  the  centre  of  the 
building.  Moreover,  the  west  wall  was  not  placed  on  the  sec¬ 
tion  lines;  consequently  both  these  causes  operated  to  throw 
the  walls  away  from  a  coincidence  with  all  the  steeets  of  the 
village.”  This  divergence  became  more  apparent  in  the  new 
and  enlarged  capitol  than  in  the  old;  since  its  location  it  has 
been  governed  by  the  same  lines. 

The  work  had  so  far  advanced  that  preparations  were  made 
to  lay  the  corner  stone  with  appropriate  ceremonies  on  the  en¬ 
suing  July  4.  Mrs.  Peck  made  large  preparation  for  the  occas¬ 
ion,  and  on  that  day,  according  to  her  account,  between  two  and 
three  hundred  persons  were  assembled.*  Among  them  were 
Gov.  Doty,  M.  L.  Martin,  A.  Nichols,  Benj.  Salter,  Dr.  Ils- 
ley  and  J ohn  Messersmith.  The  corner  stone — in  the  ‘ 1  north¬ 
east  corner,”  of  course  —  was  laid,  says  Mr.  Hyer,  by  Col.  A.  A. 
Bird,  acting  commissioner,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1837,  and  the 
ceremony  formed  on  that  day  the  principal  part  of  the  “  nation- 

*  Mr.  Mills  and  Mr.  Catlin  think  Mrs.  Peck  is  in  error  as  to  the  number 
present  —  that  there  could  not  have  been  as  large  a  gathering  as  she  has 
represented. 


66 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


al  clebration”  —  the  participants  in  the  proceedings  being  Col. 
Bird,  the  men  in  his  employ,  Mr.  E.  Peck  and  family,  and 
“Little  Dandy,”  an  Indian  chief,  and  his  band  —  the  “  na¬ 
tives  ”  forming  by  far  the  larger  party.  The  celebration  was 
quite  a  “  spirited  ”  affair,  and  lasted  several  days,  until  the 
“  spirits”  gave  out. 

Mrs.  Peck’s  narrative  has  an  interesting  account  of  the  cele¬ 
bration  and  the  preparation  made  for  it: 

“  Our  next  large  arrival  at  Madison  was  A.  A.  Bird  again, 
with  some  thirty  or  forty  men,  hired  in  Milwaukee,  to  com¬ 
mence  operations  on  the  public  buildings ;  he  also  brought  with 
him  a  family  by  the  name  of  Pierce,  *  with  two  or  three  grown 
up  daughters,  for  the  purpose  of  cooking  for  his  workmen. 
They  immediately  put  up  a  log  boarding-house,  and  in  a  week’s 
time  they  had  it  completed  and  moved  in.  Their  next  work 
was  putting  up  and  enclosing  a  frame  dining-room  for  us,  in 
the  above  mentioned  passage  way,  the  same  height  and  in  range 
of  two  of  the  other  buildings,  so  as  to  make  convenient  lodg- 

*Josiah  Pierce,  the  early  settler  here  mentioned,  was  born  in  New 
Salem,  Hampshire  county,  Massachusetts,  May  21,  1783,  and  was  devoted 
to  agricultural  pursuits;  in  1827  moved  with  his  family  from  his  na¬ 
tive  state  to  Butternuts,  Otsego  county,  N.  Y.;  and  in  the  spring  of 
1837,  he  migrated  with  his  wife  and  seven  children  to  Wisconsin.  He 
was  engaged  by  Col.  Bird  to  remove  from  Milwaukee  to  Madison, 
to  board  some  of  his  workmen  on  the  capitol;  and  Mr.  Pierce  and 
family  came  with  Col.  Bird’s  party  of  thirty-six  workmen,  and  ar¬ 
rived  at  Madison,  June  10,  1837,  after  a  ten  days’  journey,  with  four 
teams,  loaded  with  provisions,  tools,  and  such  other  articles  as  would 
be  most  needed,  and  had  to  cut  out  roads,  build  long  “  corduroy  ”  over 
swamps,  and  ford  creeks  and  rivers.  Mr.  Pierce’s  cabin  was  located 
at  or  very  near  the  present  residence  of  William  Pyncheon,  on  the  south 
side  of  Butler  street,  a  little  east  of  Peck’s  primitive  residence;  the  latter 
was  on  lot  6,  in  block  107,  on  the  south  side  of  Butler  street. 

Mr.  Pierce’s  was  the  second  family  that  settled  in  Madison;  but  his 
was  only  designed  for  a  temporary  residence,  intending  to  find  a  good 
locality,  and  settle  on  a  new  farm.  In  November  of  that  year,  he  re¬ 
moved  two  miles  south  of  the  present  village  of  Monticello,  Green  county, 
and  made  a  good  location;  his  nearest  neighbors  resided  in  Exeter,  seven 
miles  distant.  He  was  an  invalid  when  he  settled  there;  but  his  health 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


67 


ing  rooms  above.  Then  comes  Judge  Doty  again,  and  says, 
“Madam,  prepare  yourself  for  company  on  tbe  Fourth,  as  a 
large  number  from  Milwaukee,  Mineral  Point,  Fort  Winneba¬ 
go  and  Galena  have  concluded  to  meet  here  for  the  purpose  of 
viewing  the  place  and  celebrating  the  day.”  “  Why,  what 
shall  I  do?”  said  I,  “here  is  my  husband  and  brother,  both 
blind  with  inflammation  in  their  eyes,  so  that  I  have  to  feed 
them,  and  no  lumber  either  to  lay  the  upper  or  dining-room 
floor.”  “  Just  constitute  me  your  agent,”  he  replied,  “  and  I 
will  contract  for  whatever  you  want;  and  there  is  a  crib  of 
lumber  just  run  down  the  Wisconsin  river  and  lying  at  Helena, 
from  Whitney’s  Mill,”  the  first  and  then  the  only  saw-mill  in 
the  Territory.  He  went  and  contracted  for  the  lumber  at  six¬ 
ty-nine  dollars  a  thousand,  (I  have  still  some  articles  of  furni¬ 
ture  manufactured  from  that  first  lumber,  and  I  prize  them  as 
others  would  relics  from  Mount  Vernon  or  the  Charter  Oak); 
he  also  contracted  for  a  load  of  crockery  and'  table  fixtures,  pro¬ 
visions,  wines,  liquors,  pickles,  preserves,  more  bed-ticking,  bed¬ 
ding,  and  finally  everything  that  I  sent  for  at  Mineral  Point, 
and  ordered  teams  to  convey  them  to  Madison. 

“  On  the  second  day  of  July  there  was  a  drove  of  cattle  from 
Illinois  driven  through  Madison  to  Green  Bay,  out  of  which  we 
purchased  beeves  and  veal.  On  the  same  day,  my  husband  was 
led  out  blind  and  put  into  the  stage,  with  his  eyes  carefully  ex¬ 
cluded  from  the  light,  and  sent  to  Fort  Winnebago,  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  having  his  eyes  operated  upon  by  the  surgeon  of  the 
garrison,  and  endeavor  to  get  a  quiet,  dark  room,  away  from 
confusion  —  pshaw,  talk  about  the  time  that  tried  men’s  souls, 

improved,  and  he  was  able  to  attend  to  business  for  several  years.  He 
finally  died  of  consumption,  December  25,  1843,  aged  nearly  sixty-one 
years.  He  had  no  enemies,  and  was  highly  esteemed  by  all  who  knew 
him.  His  widow,  Ruth  Pierce,  a  native  of  Granby,  Connecticut,  survived 
till  June  8,  1867,  when  she  passed  away,  at  the  good  old  age  of  seventy- 
nine  years.  She  lived  to  see  her  family  all  settled  in  life,  prosperous  and 
respected,  and  she  never  regretted  her  early  migration  to  the  Western 
wilderness.  Her  son,  Hon.  Albert  H.  Pierce,  has  twice  represented  the 
Monticello  district  in  the  Legislature,  in  1859  and  1868. 


68 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


just  as  if  a  woman  had  none  —  but  the  recruits  had  just  arrived 
there  from  Green  Bay,  and  more  confusion  than  at  home,  so 
next  day  he  returned.  On  the  morning  of  the  third  our  “  gim- 
cracks  ”  had  all  arrived  except  the  lumber,  and  that  made  its  ap¬ 
pearance  about  seven  o’clock  in  the  evening.  That  night  our 
chamber  floors  were  laid,  except  over  the  diningroom.  We  had 
previously  purchased  three  hundred  pounds  of  feathers  of  Mr. 
Rasdall,  an  Indian  trader,  so  our  pillows  were  all  ready  and 
our  beds  were  all  spread  by  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the 
Fourth,  and  by  one  o’clock  our  dining-room  floor  was  laid,  our 
dining-table  built  and  dinner  set,  and  between  that  hour  and 
sundown  some  two  or  three  hundred  persons  bolted  something 
besides  pork.  In  the  evening  there  was  a  basket  of  champagne 
carried  into  the  dining-room,  and  there  their  toasts  were  deliv¬ 
ered,  songs  sung,  dinner  bell  jingled  between  times,  and  good 
feeling,  friendship  and  hilarity  prevailed  generally;  and  next 
morning  they  shot  my  two  little  pet  crows.” 

Mr.  Bird,  in  his  examination  before  the  Territorial  Legisla¬ 
tive  Committee,  February  15,  1839,  states  that  at  the  first  meet¬ 
ing  of  the  capitol  commissioners,  they  adopted  a  plan  of  the 
building  estimated  to  cost  from  $40,000  to  $45,000.  They  did 
not  advertise  for  proposals  for  the  erection  of  said  building, 
agreeably  to  the  provisions  of  the  act  by  which  they  were  ap¬ 
pointed,  because  they  were  of  the  opinion  that  it  could  be  built 
much  cheaper  than  any  one  would  be  willing  to  contract  to  do 
it  —  they"  therefore,  in  the  exercise  of  their  discretionary  pow¬ 
ers,  concluded  to  commence  and  continue  the  work  until  they 
were  able  to  ascertain  how  it  could  be  done  with  the  least  ex¬ 
pense  and  best  advantage  to  the  Territory.  The  construction 
of  the  work  was  continued  by  him  until  the  month  of  Septem¬ 
ber  following,  when  notices  for  proposals  were  issued  for  the 
first  time,  and  a  number  of  bids  were  presented.  Noue  of  them 
were  accepted,  and  the  work  was  continued  as  heretofore 
until  April  25,  1838. 

On  the  20th  of  February,  1838,  the  commissioners  advertised 
that  they  would  receive  proposals  for  the  erection  of  the  public 
buildings.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  same : 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


69 


“  To  commence  on  top  of  the  water-table  —  to  be  built  of 
stone  of  the  following  dimensions:  one  hundred  and  four  feet 
long,  and  fifty-four  feet  wide ;  the  walls  to  be  thirty  feet  high  above 
water-table,  first  story  thirteen  feet  between  joints,  second  story 
sixteen  feet  between  joints,  floor  timbers  one  foot  deep,  a  pro¬ 
jection  on  both  sides  of  said  edifice  of  four  inches  thirty  feet 
long,  which  is  the  length  of  piazza,  same  all  cut  stone  to  the 
top  of  said  wall;  the  remainder  of  said  walls  to  be  cut  on  all 
the  corners  of  the  edifice,  and  the  corners  of  the  doors  and 
windows  and  caps,  and  sills  of  the  same.  First  story  walls  two 
feet  six  inches  thick,  second  story  walls  two  feet  thick;  to  be 
two  front  doors  going  into  the  centre  of  edifice,  to  be  forty-six 
windows,  20  lights  11  by  16  inch  glass  each  window;  roof  to  be 
square  with  a  balustrade  rail  all  round,  said  roof  with  a  dome  in 
centre,  twenty-six  feet  in  diameter  lighted  with  glass  on  top,  re¬ 
mainder  of  dome  covered  with  tin  above  its  base. 

“  Roof  covered  with  pine  shingles  three  eighths  of  an  inch 
thick;  a  lightning  rod  put  on  immediately  after  roof  is  fin¬ 
ished;  two  chimney  pieces  carried  up  in  the  walls,  with  two  fire 
places  in  each  chimney  with  cut  stone  jams,  two  flues  carried  up  in 
walls  with  tops  equal  to  the  chimney  tops  with  necessary  pipe 
tubes ;  to  be  four  tin  conductors  with  suitable  heads  and  neces¬ 
sary  gutters  made  of  tin  or  sheet  lead  to  convey  the  water  into 
conductors. 

“  To  be  a  piazza  on  each  front  of  said  edifice  twelve  feet  pro¬ 
jection,  thirty  feet  long,  placed  on  stone  butments  settled  five 
feet  below  the  surface  of  the  ground  and  raised  on  a  level  with 
the  basement  story,  which  is  five  feet  above  the  surface;  floor 
of  piazza  to  be  of  oak,  two  inches  thick,  matched;  to  be  steps  the 
whole  length  of  piazza  and  railing  on  the  ends  with  heavy  ban¬ 
nisters;  piazza  roof  to  break  in  with  the  roof  and  cornice  of 
main  building;  the  cornice  to  be  executed  in  the  Grecian  Doric 
order;  piazza  roof  to  be  supported  on  four  columns  to  each  pi¬ 
azza  suitable  size,  same  order  of  cornice. 

“  First  floor  to  have  a  hall  twenty-four  feet  through  cen¬ 
tre  of  edifice,  and  one  room  on  each  side  of  hall,  partitions 
to  be  ten  inches  thick,  to  be  two  doors  in  each  partition ; 


70 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


to  be  a  flight  of  stairs  on  each  side  of  hall  to  ascend  to  sec¬ 
ond  story,  floor  to  he  laid  with  oak  one  and  a  half  inches  thick, 
lined  and  matched;  hall  to  be  plastered  three  coat  work 
with  cornice  overhead.  Second  floor,  to  be  laid  with  oak  one 
and  a  half  inches  thick,  matched,  to  be  divided  as  follows: 
to  be  a  hall  through  centre  twenty-four  feet  wide,  to  be  left 
open  twenty-four  feet  square  in  centre  for  the  reception  of  the 
stairs  and  the  light  from  the  top  of  dome  to  lower  floor,  dome 
to  be  finished  open  overhead  through  to  light  in  top,  with 
proper  cornice  and  plastering;  on  one  side  of  main  hall  to  be  a 
hall  seven  feet  wide  the  whole  width  of  said  edifice;  one  room 
for  council  chamber  thirty  feet  square  with  gallery  on  one  side 
seven  feet  wide  circular  supported  on  two  columns  with  seats 
elevated,  and  stairs  to  ascend  into  gallery,  under  gallery  to  be  a 
railing  on  line  with  columns  or  breastworks ;  to  be  one  room 
thirty  by  twenty  feet  on  the  other  side  of  hall ;  to  be  hall  twen¬ 
ty-eight  feet  long,  ten  feet  wide,  and  a  representative  chamber 
forty  by  thirty-eight  feet,  finished  same  as  council  chamber;  the 
plastering  on  this  floor  to  be  three  coat  work,  the  rooms  to  be 
all  corniced;  the  council  and  representative  chambers  to  be  fin¬ 
ished  with  an  elipsis  spring  in  the  corner  over  head  so  as  to  form  a 
pannel  of  the  level  part  of  ceiling;  to  be  twelve  inside  doors, 
all  of  which  are  to  be  made  of  pine  two  inches  thick  in  modern 
style,  the  two  outside  doors  to  be  double,  three  inches  thick,  fin¬ 
ished  with  egg  and  dart  moulding,  and  suitable  fastenings  and 
hangings  as  directed  by  the  acting  commissioner;  all  the  doors 
to  be  cased  with  pilasters ;  all  the  windows  to  be  cased  with  pil¬ 
asters,  with  pannel  jams  and  backs,  to  the  floor;  to  be  counter 
check  sash,  hung  with  weights,  glass  of  best  quality;  all  the 
wood  work  except  shingles  and  floor  to  be  painted  outside  and 
in,  three  coats  as  directed  by  the  acting  commissioner.  *  * 

Said  edifice  to  be  completed  according  to  said  plan  and  specifi¬ 
cation,  in  every  particular,  by  the  20th  of  September,  1839. 
The  outside  of  said  edifice  and  the  rooms  on  the  first  floor  to 
be  completed  by  the  15th  day  of  October  next. 

“  J.  D.  Doty,  John*  F.  O’Neil,  A.  A.  Bird,  Commissioners. 

“  February  20,  1838.” 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


71 


In  reply  to  tlie  proposals  for  said  work,  bids  were  received 
ranging  from  $24,450  to  $125,000,  and  the  contract  was  award¬ 
ed  to  Jas.  Morrison  for  $26,200,  April  IT,  1838.  By  an  act  of 
Congress,  approved  June  18,  1838,  the  further  sum  of  $20,000 
was  appropriated  for  finishing  the  work. 

At  the  session  of  the  Legislature,  in  1839,  a  joint  convention 
of  the  two  houses  was  held  on  March  8,  and  N.  C.  Prentiss, 
Jas.  L.  Thayer  and  L.  H.  Cotton  were  duly  chosen  Commis¬ 
sioners  of  Public  Buildings  to  succeed  those  in  office.  The 
work  on  the  capitol  was  continued  by  Mr.  Morrison,  until 
April,  1841,  at  which  time  the  work  was  unfinished.  Mr. 
Prentiss,  as  Building  Commissioner,  for  and  on  the  part  of 
the  Territory  of  Wisconsin,  entered  into  a  written  contract 
with  Daniel  Baxter,  by  the  terms  of  which  he  was  required 
to  finish  the  work  as  specified  in  said  contract,  for  the  sum  of 
$7,000,  to  be  completed  on  or  before  December  1,  1845.  It  is 
not  necessary  to  give  further  details  of  the  history  of  the  erec¬ 
tion  of  the  capitol  building.  Much  contention  arose  between 
the  first  Board  of  Commissioners  and  their  successors,  as  well 
as  the  contractors  Messrs.  Morrison  and  Baxter  and  the  Ter¬ 
ritorial  Legislatures.  Mr.  Baxter  died  a  few  years  since,  leav¬ 
ing  an  unsettled  claim  against  the  State  for  alleged  damages. 

Hon.  M.  M.  Strong,  in  his  address,  says:  “The  history  of 
the  early  measures  taken  to  secure  the  erection  of  a  building 
in  which  to  hold  the  sessions  of  the  Territorial  Legislature, 
is  a  history  of  peculation  with  the  appropriations  made  for 
that  purpose,  as  disgraceful  to  those  concerned  in  it,  as  it 
was  destructive  of  the  manifest  intentions  of  Congress.  These 
appropriations  amounted  to  $40,000.  The  Commissioners 
elected  in  1836,  Messrs.  Doty,  O’Neill  and  Bird,  received 
this  large  sum  of  money,  and  according  to  the  report  of  the 
joint  committee,  made  to  the  Legislative  Assembly  on  the  3d 
of  January.  1840,  they  had  expended  less  than  half  that  sum 
upon  the  public  buildings.  They  entered  into  a  secret  partner¬ 
ship  with  the  contractor  in  merchandize  and  other  outside 
speculations,  and,  in  the  language  of  the  report,  ‘had  done 
little  more  than  erect  a  shell  of  a  capitol,  which  is  scarcely 


72 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  ADD  THE 


capable  of  sustaining  its  own  weight,  and  which,  unless  it 
is  speedily  secured  by  extensive  repairs,  must  become  a  heap  of 
ruins.’  All  steps  were  taken  which  could  be  to  recover  by 
law  from  the  first  Board  of  Commissioners  and  from  the  con¬ 
tractor,  the  funds  which  they  had  misapplied,  and,  after  several 
years  of  litigation,  the  suits  were  settled  by  authority  of  a  sub¬ 
sequent  Legislature.” 

To  the  first  building  erected  by  Ebek  Peck,  reference  has 
heretofore  been  made,  and  Mrs.  Peck  has  given  an  account  of 
its  internal  arrangements.  The  buildings  were  of  logs,  and  put 
up  on  block  107,  and  was  for  about  a  year  the  only  public  house 
in  Madison.  After  Mr.  Peck  vacated  it,  he  was  succeeded  by 
Robert  L.  Ream  in  the  spring  of  1838,  and  the  building  was 
known  as  the  Madison  House.  In  it  Miss  Yinkie  Ream,  the 
artist,  was  born.  The  building  was  demolished  in  1857.  It 
had  a  notable  history  the  twenty  years  of  its  existence. 

The  American  Hotel  was  erected  by  Jas.  Morrisom  and  A. 
A.  Bird,  on  the  corner  of  Pinckney  street  and  Washington 
avenue,  and  was  built  in  1838.  Mr.  Levi  P.  Drake,  late  City 
Surveyor,  was  a  workman  on  it.  It  was  kept  by  Fake  &  Cot- 
tok,  1838-41,  by  James  Morrisok,  with  numerous  successive 
landlords.  The  avenue  wing  of  the  building  was  originally  a 
store  located  on  King  street,  and  moved  thence.  The  Pinck¬ 
ney  street,  or  northwest  wing  was  added  about  1851.  The 
building  was  destroyed  by  fire  September  5, 1868.  The  ground 
upon  which  it  was  located  was  for  a  number  of  years  in  litiga¬ 
tion.  It  was  sold  a  few  years  since,  and  the  beautiful  building 
known  as  the  Park  Savings  Bank  erected.  Few  buildings  in 
Madison  were  as  well  known  as  the  “  Old  American.” 

The  following  private  history  of  the  u  Madison  Hotel,”  an¬ 
other  of  the  early  public  houses,  has  been  handed  us: 

“  In  the  winter  and  spring  of  1838,  the  u  Madison  Hotel  ” 
was  built,  and  kept  the  first  year  by  Charles  H.  Bird,  now  of 
Sun  Prairie.  The  original  building  was  a  small,  unpretending 
structure,  to  which  additions  were  continually  made  until  it 
covered  considerable  ground.  On  the  first  of  J une,  1838,  the 
first  session  of  the  Territorial  Supreme  Court  met  and  organ- 


Simeon  Mills .  Col.  A.  A.  Bird. 


I 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


73 


ized  in  the  House,  Hon.  Chas.  Dunk  of  La  Fayette  county, 
Chief  Justice.  In  December  of  the  same  year,  the  Territorial 
Legislature  convened,  and  the  now  venerable  Gov.  Dodge  and 
the  leading  members  of  that  body  took  rooms  at  the  Madison 
Hotel.  Chas.  H.  Bird  was  succeeded  by  W.  W.  Wyman,  late  of 
Nebraska  Territory,  and  after  him  A.  A.  Bird,  the  proprietor, 
took  the  hotel  and  kept  it  about  four  years.  During  this 
period  of  time,  powerful  efforts  were  made,  at  each  session  of 
the  Legislature,  to  remove  the  capital  from  Madison,  and  it 
was  at  this  hotel  the  friends  of  Madison  made  their  head¬ 
quarters,  Bird  standing  the  expense  of  looking  after  the  waver¬ 
ing  members,  and  chief  in  concocting  schemes  to  defeat  the 
removal.  Any  friend  of  Madison  from  abroad,  could  obtain 
from  Bird  board,  champagne,  and  his  last  cent  or  unlimited 
credit,  and  his  only  hope  of  remuneration  was  to  exhaust  the 
resources  of  the  enemy  and  ruin  his  credit. 

“  Bird  was  succeeded  by  Jesse  A.  Clark,  now  deceased,  who 
purchased  the  property,  and  after  keeping  the  house  a  short 
time,  leased  it  to  a  Mr.  Quivey,  who  built  an  addition;  and 
again,  after  him,  his  lessor,  Clark,  kept  the  house  until  the 
31st  of  December,  1845,  when  he  sold  to  Chester  Bushnell, 
late  of  Minnesota,  and  Wm.  Welch,  of  this  city.  Bushnell 
sold  to  J.  D.  Welch,  who,  with  his  brother,  kept  the  house 
some  time,  when  W.  Welch  leased  his  interest  to  H.  W. 
Yager,  now  deceased.  Boon  after  P.  H.  Van  Bergen  pur¬ 
chased  J.  D.  Welch’s  interest,  and  with  the  other  Welch 
kept  the  house  until  1848,  when  it  was  leased  for  one  year  to 
Chas.  Weed,  now  deceased,  and  he  was  succeeded  by  Wm. 
Van  Bergen,  also  now  deceased,  the  brother  of  P.  H.  Van  Ber¬ 
gen.  Van  Bergen  kept  the  house  until  1849,  when  P.  H. 
again  took  the  property,  and  finally,  in  1853,  in  October,  pur¬ 
chased  the  half  interest  of  W.  Welch  and  became  sole  pro¬ 
prietor.  He  soon  after  sold  to  B.  F.  Perry,  and  since  that 
time  it  has  been  occupied  by  numerous  tenants.  A  gentleman 
by  the  name  of  Slater  changed  the  name  of  the  hotel  to  that 
of  his  own;  and  then,  again,  it  was  occupied  by  a  gentleman 

of  the  name  of  Osborn,  who  gave  his  own  cognomen  to  the 
6 


74 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


establishment.  But  the  old  building  finally  went  down  as  the 
“  Madison  Hotel,”  and  by  that  name  it  will  ever  be  known  in 
the  history  of  Madison.  At  12  o’clock,  March,  IT,  1863,  the 
Madison  Hotel  was  the  oldest  building  standing  in  the  city  of 
Madison.  Peace  to  its  ashes.” 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  party  that  accompanied  Mr. 
Bird  to  commence  work  on  the  capitol.  The  following  are 
the  names  of  those  known  to  have  been  of  the  party:  Josiah 
Pierce  and  family  of  five  persons,  engaged  to  keep  a  boarding 
house  for  the  workmen,  Darwin  Clark,*  employed  May  30, 
1837,  to  April  20,  1838,  David  Hyer,  Thomas  Jackson, 
David  Williams,  E.  Hewitt,  Giles  Briggs,  Henry  Gage, 
J.  W.  Corning,  William  and  John  Symonds,  D.  Mumford, 
James  Tinline,  Gilbert  and  Delos  Bundy,  Rich’d  Rock- 
wood,  Isaac  H.  Palmer,  Chas.  H.  Bird,  Prosper  B.  Bird, 
E.  H.  Nelson,  Geo.  W.  Eastman,  H.  W.  Thornton,  Horace 
and  Wm.  Lawrence,  Wm.  Terril,  Jeff.  Holmes,  C.  P.  Peasely, 

Jeff.  Kinney,  and - Leland.  Other  workmen  subsequently 

came  and  a  large  part  of  the  original  number  removed  to  the 
country  or  returned  east.  Among  those  who  came  in  the 
second  arrival  were,  Henry  Rowe,  M.  Eggleston,  R.  F.  Ris¬ 
ing,  - Hathaway,  R.  Penoyer,  J.  S.  Merrill,  Edmund  C. 

Maxwell,  Owen  Murray,  Caleb  Merrill,  Cyrus  Clark, 

*  Darwin  Clark  was)  born  at  Otego,  Otsego  county,  New  York,  May  12, 
1812,  and  learned  the  business  of  cabinet  maker.  He  left  his  home  in  April, 
1837,  with  four  friends  to  find  a  residence  in  the  west,  viz:  Delos  Bundy, 
Gilbert  Bundy,  Richard  Rockwood  and  Hiram  Sleeper.  At  Buffalo  took 
the  steamer  DeWitt  Clinton  for  Detroit,  where  the  party  met,  having 
been  divided  on  their  way,  and  proceeded  on  foot  to  St.  Josephs,  Michi¬ 
gan,  their  baggage  having  been  sent  on  by  steamer.  They  crossed  Lake 
Michigan  to  Chicago  and  traveled  on  foot  to  Milwaukee,  where  they 
arrived  May  26,  1837.  While  at  Milwaukee  he,  Rockwood  and  the  two 
Bundys  were  engaged  by  Mr.  Bird  to  go  to  Madison  and  work  on  the 
capitol  building. 

Mr.  Clark  has  resided  here  since  that  time.  He  has  held  many  town, 
village  and  city  offices,  carrying  on  a  large  business  in  cabinet  ware.  He 
was  married  at  Webster,  Monroe  county,  New  York,  to  Sarah  L.  Good- 
enow,  who  died  at  Madison,  March  5,  1854.  He  *s  now  living  with  his 
second  wife. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


75 


Wm.  A.  Wheeler,  Geo.  Vroman,  September,  1837,  to  March, 
1838,  Zenas  H.  Bird,  —  Whitesides,  Jairus  and  Horace  Pot¬ 
ter,  Wm.  Seavier  and  brother,  Jesse  Bolden,  and  Wm. 
Wooloock. 

On  the  same  day  that  Bird’s  party  reached  Madison,  Simeon 
Mills,  *  a  well  known  citizen  arrived.  From  him  we  have  re- 


*Gen.  Simeon  Mills  was  born  in  the  town  of  Norfolk,  Litchfield  county, 
Connecticut,  February  14,  1810.  He  removed  with  his  parents  to  Austen- 
burg,  Ashtabula  county,  O.,  when  about  two  years  of  age,  and  was  brought 
up  on  a  farm.  At  the  age  of  20  he  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits,  which 
he  followed  several  years.  In  1837  he  removed  to  Madison  where  he  has  re¬ 
sided  up  to  the  present  time,  and  has  been  largely  indentified  in  its  success. 
On  the  12th  of  August,  1837,  Mr.  Mills  was ‘‘appointed  Justice  of  the  Peace 
in  and  for  the  county  of  Dane,  and  for  some  time  held  the  only  office  of  the 
kind  in  said  county.  His  first  official  act  was  performing  the  marriage  cer¬ 
emony  between  Oliver  Armel  and  Joseph  Pelkie,  two  Frenchmen,  and  two 
accomplished  ladies  of  the  Winnebago  nation. 

In  the  spring  of  1839,  the  county  of  Dane  was  organized  for  judicial 
purposes,  and  Mr.  Mills  was  appointed  Clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
Territory,  and  also  Clerk  of  the  U.  S.  District  Court  of  the  county  of  Dane, 
which  last  office  he  held  for  about  nine  years. 

Mr.  Mills  was  the  last  Treasurer  of  the  Territory  in  1848,  and  on  the  or¬ 
ganization  of  the  State  Government,  was  elected  the  first  Senator  of  Dane 
county,  and  received  a  re-nomination  at  the  expiration  of  his  term,  but  de¬ 
clined  the  honor,  and  has  not  been  an  active  politician  since  that  time. 

Retiring  from  politics  thus  early,  and  devoting  himself  to  business,  he 
has  long  since  taken  rank  among  the  wealthy  men  of  Dane  county. 

Mr.  Mills  was  appointed  one  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Wisconsin  State 
Hospital  for  the  Insane  by  Governor  Randall,  in  April,  i860,  and  has 
held  the  office  up  to  the  present  time ;  it  being  an  honorary  position,  with¬ 
out  salary,  may  account  for  its  being  so  long  filled  by  others  than  active 
politicians. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion  in  1861,  Mr.  Mills  was  Paymaster 
General  of  the  state,  and  disbursed  nearly  the  entire  war  fund  of  Wiscon¬ 
sin,  and,  so  far  as  we  know,  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  all  concerned. 

He  has  at  different  times  engaged  in  various  kinds  of  business;  but  his 
main  energies,  for  the  last  thirty  years,  have  been  directed  to  the  erection  of 
buildings  for  rent  and  other  purposes;  and  he  has,  probably,  erected  more 
buildings  than  any  other  four  men  together  that  ever  lived  in  Madison. 

Commencing  in  Madison,  when  it  consisted  of  but  one  log  house,  he  has 
lived  to  see  it  a  beautiful  city  of  more  than  ten  thousand  inhabitants. 


76 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


ceived  an  account  of  his  travels  in  1836  and  1837.  At  his  first 
visit  to  Wisconsin  he  came  by  the  way  of  Chicago,  from  which 
place  in  June  1836,  in  company  with  John  M.  Wilson,  Esq., 
he  proceeded  on  horseback  by  way  of  Galena,  Dubuque  and 
Belmont  to  Mineral  Point.  At  the  latter  place  he  remained 
until  the  last  of  December,  when  in  company  with  Mr.  Van 
Horn,  returned  by  the  way  of  Milwaukee.  He  left  Mineral 
Point  when  the  thermometer  was  32  degrees  below  zero,  and 
stopped  at  Camp  and  Collins’  Diggings  in  Green  County,  crossed 
Sugar  river  and  journeyed  toward  Janesville,  and  stopped  there 
with  Mr.  Holmes.  The  place  was  then  known  as  Ptock  river 
rapids.  Thence  he  crossed  the  prairie,  and  camped  about  18 
miles  east  of  where  Janesville  now  is.  Next  day  he  journeyed  to 
Troy,  W al worth  county,  and  lodged  with  a  Mr.  Meacham,  thence 
pursued  his  way  to  Mukwanago  and  stopped  a  part  of  the  night 
at  a  log  house,  when  he  and  his  friend  went  three  miles  further, 
and  sent  assistance  to  the  place,  where  he  first  stayed  as  the 
the  lady  of  the  house  was  taken  sick,  and  proceeded  to  Milwau¬ 
kee  and  took  the  stage  road  to  Chicago,  being  eleven  days  on 
the  route.  He  then  returned  to  Ohio. 

Mr.  Mills  stayed  at  his  home  until  May,  1837,  when  he  con¬ 
cluded  to  make  a  residence  at  Madison,  as  the  capitol  had  been  lo¬ 
cated  there  by  the  legislature  the  year  previous  and  the  prospects 
were  favorable.  He  came  to  Chicago,  and  with  the  company  of 
a  young  man  by  the  name  of  Benham,  proceeded  on  foot  to¬ 
ward  the  new  seat  of  Government.  Mr.  Benham  separated 
from  Mills  at  Janesville,  as  he  had  concluded  to  settle  in  Wal¬ 
worth  county,  and  the  latter  completed  the  route  by  himself. 
In  doing  so  he  crossed  the  Catfish  river  three  times,  and  at  the 
close  of  the  day,  June  10,  arrived  on  the  opposite  side  of  Lake 
Monona  near  Winnequah.  Here  he  met  two  Indian  boys  who 
were  preparing  to  spend  the  night  fishing.  Mr.  Mills  desired 
these  lads  to  carry  him  over  the  lake,  hut  they  were  not  willing 
to  do  so.  Soon  after  Mr.  Mills  fell  in  with  a  man  by  the  name 
of  Abraham  Wood,  who  persuaded  the  lads  to  bring  him  to 
Madison,  Mr.  Mills  paying  them. fifty  cents  each  for  so  doing, 
which  settled  the  question,  and  they  landed  him  near  the  East 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


77 


Madison  Depot.  The  day  after  his  arrival,  he  engaged  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Isaac  Towers  to  put  up  for  him  a  building  of 
logs,  16  by  18,  of  hewed  logs,  on  lot  8,  block  108,  for  a  store, 
and  went  to  Mineral  Point  on  his  way  to  Galena,  to  pur¬ 
chase  goods.  At  the  former  place,  he  met  John  Catlin,  Esq., 
who  had  been  appointed  Post  Master  at  Madison.  An  arrange¬ 
ment  was  made  for  a  co-partnership,  and  both  went  to  Galena 
and  laid  in  supplies  for  the  new  store.  Mr.  Catlin  appointed 
Mr.  Mills  Deputy  Post  Master,  and  the  office  was  kept  in  the 
same  building.  This  was  the  first  mercantile  establishment  in 
the  Territory  south  of  Fort  Winnebago,  between  Milwaukee 
and  Dodgeville. 

As  a  considerable  number  of  workmen,  including  one  family, 
arrived  at  Madison  at  that  time,  to  commence  the  erection  of 
the  Territorial  Capitol,  the  business  of  this  pioneer  mercantile 
establishment,  although  not  very  extensive,  was  by  no  means  so 
limited  as  might  well  be  imagined  from  the  fact  that,  up  to  that 
time,  the  whole  white  population  of  Dane  county  consisted  of 
Ebenzer  Brigham,  at  Blue  Mounds,  and  the  family  of  Eben 
Peck,  with  a  few  transient  guests  at  Madison. 

The  only  mails  at  that  time  were  received  occasionally ,  from 
Mineral  Point  and  Fort  Winnebago;  but  in  the  autumn  of 
that  year,  a  contract  for  carrying  a  weekly  mail  from  Milwaukee 
to  Madison,  was  awarded  to  Mr.  Mills,  who  commenced  the 
service  without  delay. 

The  building  erected  by  Mr.  Mills,  was  subsequently  en¬ 
larged  and  occupied  by  the  publishers  of  the  u  Wisconsin  Ar¬ 
gus ,”  as  a  printing  office,  and  subsequently  as  a  dwelling  house. 
About  a  month  after  the  building  was  put  up,  Mr.  Catlin  ar¬ 
rived  and  made  his  residence  here. 

Nearly  all  the  buildings  put  up  in  the  summer  and  winter  of 
1837-8  have  been  removed,  as  well  as  those  erected  the  few 
years  succeeding.  Some  notice  of  these  structures  will  be 
given. 

The  first  framed  building  put  up  was  a  small  office  for  the 
acting  commissioner;  the  first  framed  divelling  was  built  by  A. 
A.  Bird,  on  lot  5,  block  87,  on  Lake  Monona.  It  was  known  as 


78 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


the  “  Schemerhorn  House.”  The  hoards  used  were  sawed  by 
hand.  This  building  stood  for  many  years  and  had  numerous 
tenants.  It  was  finally  demolished,  and  an  elegant  two  story 
brick  dwelling  occupies  its  site,  and  is  the  residence  of  J.  M. 
Bowman,  Esq. 

A  steam  saw  mill  to  saw  lumber  for  the  capitol,  was  built  on 
the  shore  of  Lake  Mendota  on  block  262.  Its  site  is  occupied  at 
present  hy  buildings  used  for  the  storage  of  ice. 

On  the  6th  of  September,  1837,  John  Stonee  and  his  family 
arrived,  making  the  third  family,  E.  Peck  and  Josiah  Pieece 
being  his  seniors.  I.  H.  Palmee  built  a  house  on  King  street, 
below  the  Madison  Hotel,  the  same  season,  and  moved  with  his 
family.  Mr.  Stonee  built  his  log  house  the  same  season  near 
Lake  Mendota,  on  block  262.  A  few  years  after  he  put  up  a 
frame  house  a  few  blocks  northeast,  where  he  made  his  resi¬ 
dence  until  his  death,  in  1872.  A  small  Norwegian  Lutheran 
church  now  stands  on  the  lot  where  he  built  his  pioneer  log 
cabin. 

John  Gatlin  built  a  log  house  early  in  1837,  on  lots  3  and  4, 
block  90,  northwest  corner  of  Mifflin  street  and  Wisconsin  av¬ 
enue.*  A  two  story  frame  building  was  afterwards  built  on  the 
front  of  the  old  building  and  to  face  the  capitol  park.  He  had 
also  a  small  stable  built  of  round  stones,  laid  up  with  mortar. 
The  old  part  is  gone,  and  the  modern  portion  was  sold  to  Judge 
E.  Wakeley,  who  removed  it  in  portions  to  Omaha,  Nebraska. 

In  the  month  of  August,  of  this  year,  a  society  was  organ¬ 
ized  called  the  “Madison  Lyceum,”  for  the  object  of  mutual  im¬ 
provement.  A  debating  society  was  connected  with  it.  The 
early  records  of  this  society  are  still  preserved  by  Daewin 
Claek,  Esq. 

Among  the  number  of  those  who  came  here  this  season  as 
residents  or  transiently,  were  J.  Gillett  Knapp,  Geo.  P.  Dela- 
PLAiNE.f  W.  N.  Seymoue,  arrived  January  29,  1838;  Nicho- 

*  Mr.  Catlin,  in  his  “  Early  Reminiscences  ”  (see  page  35),  has  a  more 
particular  account  of  this  building. 

f  Gen.  Geo.  P.  Delaplaine  was  born  at  Philadelphia,  Pa.  He  removed 
west  in  1838,  and  settled  at  Madison.  He  was  for  six  months  chief  clerk  in 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


79 


las  Smith,  Robert  L.  Ream,  John  Easton,  Richard  T.  Davis, 
James  Morrison,  Abel  Rasdall,  Dr.  Almon  Lull,  John  T. 
Wilson,  George  Payne,  David  Brigham,  Thos.  W.  Suther¬ 
land  and  Lafayette  Kellogg,  July,  1838,  temporarily,  and 
permanently,  May,  1839,  Wm.  T.  Sterling,  E.  M.  William¬ 
son,  Geo.  Hyer,  Josiah  A.  Noonan,  Isaac  Atwood. 

Four  families,  with  their  inmates  and  guests,  constituted  the 
entire  population  of  Madison,  and  with  two  or  three  families  at 
Blue  Mounds,  the  whole  population  of  Dane  county  during  the 
winter  of  1837-38. 

Some  of  the  buildings  erected  this  year,  or  enlarged,  were  as 
as  follows: 

The  Madison  Hotel,  of  which  a  portion  was  erected  the  pre¬ 
vious  year,  was  completed,  and  the  first  session  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  Territory  was  held  in  July  in  the  sitting  room. 
Judge  Chas.  Dunn,  of  La  Fayette  county,  was  then  Chief  Jus¬ 
tice,  with  Judges  Frazier  and  Irwin  as  associates. 

Simeon  Mills  erected  on  lot  6,  block  89  Clymer  street,  a  framed 
building,  which  has  thus  far  escaped  the  march  of  improvement. 
It  was  an  elegant  structure  in  its  day.  It  was  occupied  first  by 
Mr.  Mills,  afterwards  by  Gov.  Doty,  B.  Shackleford,  Gov. 
Tallmadge,  Gen.  David  Atwood,  Chas.  Weed  and  many  oth¬ 
ers.  The  building  is  almost  hid  by  trees,  and  the  high  walls  of 
the  blocks  of  stores  in  the  rear  on  Main  street.  It  is  one  of  the 
oldest  of  the  landmarks  of  the  city. 

Jas.  Morrison  put  up  a  small  building  in  the  grounds  of  the 
present  capitol  square,  midway  between  the  capitol  building 
and  the  east  corner  of  the  grounds.  It  was  a  one  story  log 
building,  and  was  removed  at  an  early  day. 

The  American  Hotel,  also  built  by  Morrison,  on  the  north¬ 
west  corner  of  Pinckney  street  and  Wisconsin  avenue,  was  a 
noted  place  in  early  times.  The  building  was  subsequently 

the  mercantile  house  of  James  Morrison.  He  has  held  a  number  of  offices; 
was  Surveyor,  Assistant  Clerk  of  Assembly,  1843,  and  was  Private  Secre¬ 
tary  to  Governor’s  Dodge,  Tallmadge  and  Dewey.  During  the  war  of  the 
rebellion  he  was  appointed  by  Gov.  Randall,  Inspector  General  of  Militia. 
Gen.  Delaplaine  has  been  a  resident  of  Madison  the  last  thirty-six  years. 


80 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  ARD  THE 


enlarged.  A  frame  building,  known  as  the  Commission¬ 
er’s  Store,  which  was  put  up  on  the  south  side  of  King  street, 
by  Mr.  Morrison,  adjoining  the  Madison  Hotel  on  the  west, 
about  22  by  30  feet  in  size,  was  removed  to,  and  formed  the 
east  wing  of  the  American.  The  house  was  kept  by  Fake  & 
Cotton,  Mr.  Morrisoh,  Harvey  Sadd  and  a  large  number  of 
successors.  As  before  stated,  the  first  session  of  the  Legisla¬ 
ture  was  held  in  this  building  in  the  month  of  February.  The 
American  was  destroyed  by  fire,  September  5,  1868. 

A  one  story  framed  building  was  put  up  on  the  southeast 
corner  of  Main  and  Pinckney  streets,  set  back  from  Main  street, 
and  was  built  for  Col.  A.  P.  Field,  who  was  Secretary  of  the 
Territory  at  this  time,  succeeding  Col.  W.  B.  Slaughter.  It 
was  subsequently  altered  to  a  hotel  known  as  the  City  Hotel, 
which  was  kept  by  A.  A.  Bird,  and  also  as  a  store  by  S.  F. 
Hohh,  Jehu  H.  Lewis  and  others.  It  was  taken  down  some 
twenty  years  since,  and  the  property  purchased  by  Col.  J.  C. 
Fairchild,  who  erected  the  block  of  stone  buildings  known  as 
the  Fairchild  Block. 

One  of  these  early  places  deserves  a  longer  notice,  viz :  — 
the  old  “  Worser.”  This  two  story  frame  building,  says  Judge 
Khapp,  was  placed  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Main  and  Pinck¬ 
ney  streets,  on  the  ground  now  known  as  the  United  States 
Block;  and  was  built  by  Abeter  Nichols,  of  Mineral  Point,  and 
Jacob  George,  in  1838.  Having  partly  completed  the  building, 
the  owners  applied  for  a  tavern  license,  in  order  to  sell  liquors 
according  to  law,  as  all  good  liquor  sellers  desire  to  do.  For 
some  forgotten  cause,  perhaps  the  want  of  u  two  spare  beds,” 
they  were  refused.  Licenses  for  groceries  were  then  some  four 
times  the  amount  of  those  for  taverns;  and  they  desired,  like 
all  economical  men,  to  save  the  difference.  On  being  denied 
the  license,  they  declared  that  if  they  could  not  keep  a  tavern , 
they  would  keep  something  “  worser .”  And  so  without  a 
license,  “  Uncle  George  ”  opened  a  u  worser  ”  indeed,  where  men 
at  the  first  session  of  the  Legislature  could  buy  strong  drink, 
and  in  a  dark  cellar  they  could  fight  a  certain  wild  animal, 
whose  den  was  there.  When  the  United  States  Hotel  was  to 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


81 


be  built,  tbe  u  Worser  ”  was  moved  down  Main  street,  ten  feet 
from  the  new  brick  wall.  There  it  was  burned  to  the  ground, 
greatly  endangering  the  new  building,  which  was  often  on  fire 
in  the  roof,  doors  and  windows. 

Another  of  the  buildings  put  up  in  1838,  was  a  two  story 
framed  building  on  Pinckney  street,  adjacent  to  the  American 
Hotel,  as  enlarged,  and  east  of  the  Methodist  church.  It  was 
built  by  John  Messersmith,  Jr.  It  was  opened  as  a  gambling 
house,  and  known  as  “  The  Tiger,”  and  was  kept  open  to 
the  public  without  fear  of  the  law.  For  a  few  years  it  was  a 
success,  but  was  afterwards  used  as  a  dwelling,  and  an  addition 
placed  before  it,  and  in  its  rear.  The  property  was  purchased 
by  Dr.  C.  B.  Chapman,  who  sold  it  to  J.  D.  Noble,  and  by  the  lat¬ 
ter  to  Fritz  Maeder,  who  erected  a  fine  three  story  brick 
building  in  its  place.  A  small  frame  building  was  also  put  up 
this  year  by  Wm.  T.  Sterling,  Territorial  Librarian,  on  the 
south  side  on  the  flat,  but  was  removed  opposite  and  west  of  the 
residence  of  La  Fayette  Kellogg,  on  State  street.  It  was  after¬ 
wards  enlarged  and  sold  to  Mr.  Kellogg,  and  by  him  to  Chaun- 
cey  Abbott,  both  of  whom  made  it  their  residence.  It  was  after¬ 
ward  displaced  by  the  erection  of  Leonard  Nolden’s  Hotel  on 
its  site. 

One  other  building  erected  this  year  was  the  Territorial  Li¬ 
brary  building —  a  one  story  wooden  frame,  fifteen  feet  square,  on 
King  street,  on  the  lot  known  as  Dean’s  Block,  near  Main  street. 

Isaac  H.  Palmer  (now  of  Lodi,  Wis.),  in  the  summer  of 
1838,  erected  a  cottage  building  on  Johnson  street,  adjoining 
the  present  German  Catholic  Church,  which  is  now  owned  and 
occupied  by  that  church  as  a  school,  under  the  charge  of  the 
Sisters.  It  was  originally  a  small  one-story-and-a-half  house, 
with  two  side  wings,  made  of  rived  oak  hewed  and  planed  by 
hand,  with  green  blinds,  and  was  regarded  at  the  time  as  the 
handsomest  cottage  in  the  village.  It  was  occupied  for  a  while 
by  Mr.  Palmer,  and  subsequently  by  Rev.  W.  Philo,  Dr. 
Spencer  and  John  Eastman,  and  was  sold  by  the  latter  to 
the  church.  This  building,  one  of  the  oldest  in  the  place,  has 
suffered  some  changes,  but  its  timbers  are  sound  and  strong. 


82 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


During  the  year,  David  Hyer  built  a  framed  house  on  Fair- 
child  street,  near  the  office  of  Register  of  Deeds.  It  was  one 
and  a  half  stories  high,  and  was  kept  as  a  hoarding  house;  it 
has  long  since  been  removed.  *  The  site  is  now  occupied  by  a 
two  story  brick’  building,  and  was  for  a  while  the  residence  of 
Hon.  Lyman  C.  Draper,  and  more  recently  kept  as  a  hotel  by 
W.  N.  Hawes  and  Wm.  Rasdall  as  the  Rasdall  House.  L.  F. 
Kellogg,  Esq.,  states  that  Mr.  Peck,  after  leaving  the  first 
log  house,  put  up  another  on  Wisconsin  Avenue,  near  the  resi¬ 
dence  of  Prof.  S.  H.  Carpenter,  that  he  subsequently  sold  it 
to  Jas.  Morrison,  and  that  it  shortly  after  took  fire  and  was 
burnt.  It  was  18  by  22  feet.  Abel  Rasdall  owned  a  small 
framed  house,  put  up  in  1837  or  1838,  on  the  corner  of  King 
and  Webster  streets.  It  was  a  small  affair  —  one  room,  and 
was  used  as  a  saloon. 

Mrs.  Roseline  Peck  has,  under  date  of  January  24,  1874, 
kindly  given  a  few  more  reminiscences  of  her  early  Madison 
life.  She  says:  “I  visited  Madison,  last  summer,  with  my 
daughter  and  a  lady  friend,  among  the  excursionists,  and  visited 
the  ‘  old  stamping  grounds,1  but  so  changed  that  I  could  hardly 
recognize  them.  The  old  log  house,  which  we  used  as  a  hotel 
for  about  two  years,  was  then  leased  or  rented  to  R.  L.  Ream, 
and  was  by  him  kept  as  a  house  of  entertainment  until  we  left 
the  place,  and  has  since  been  removed.  Mr.  Ream  was 
the  father  of  Miss  Vinnie  Ream,  who  was  born  in  the  cabin 
after  we  left  it.  I  think  my  daughter  and  Miss  Vinnie  were 
the  only  children  born  in  it  after  we  came  away. 

“You  wish  to  knowhow  we  enjoyed  ourselves  at  those  times; 
well,  in  various  ways.  We  had  a  regular  dancing  school  twice 
a  week  the  first  winter,  in  the  old  cabin.  There  was  quite  a 
number  of  young  ladies  and  middle-aged  people.  Mr.  Stoner 
brought  four  daughters,  Esquire  Bird  had  a  young  lady  sister. 
There  were  two  Brayton  girls;  one  lived  with  Charles  Bird 
and  mother,  the  other  at  Esquire  Bird’s.  Chas.  Bird  married 
one  of  them;  the  other  taught,  I  think,  our  first  school  after- 

*  Mr.  E.  Burdick  says  he  thinks  the  Hyer  House  was  on  the  adjoining 
lot  now  occupied  by  Hon.  S.  D.  Hastings. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN 


83 


wards.  A.  A.  Bird  and  lady  used  to  call,  at  our  dances,  and 
trip  the  light  fantastic  toe,  and,  frequently,  visitors  from  Mil¬ 
waukee,  Fort  Winnebago,  Galena  and  Mineral  Point  were  pres¬ 
ent.  Among  them  were  Uncle  Ab.  Nichols,  his  wife  and 
daughter.  The  latter  two  went  ahead  of  us  in  dancing,  and 
staid  with  us  a  week.  We  had  two  girls  as  helps  of  our  own, 
and  plenty  of  the  other  sex.  So  we  could  hardly  call  it  succo¬ 
tash,  there  was  too  much  corn  for  the  beans. 

“We  had  various  other  amusements:  euchre  parties,  Christ¬ 
mas  and  New  Year’s  suppers,  and  verbal  and  practical  jokes  in¬ 
terspersed.  We  had  also  turtle  soup  suppers,  the  turtles  caught 
by  cutting  holes  through  the  ice  on  what  was  called  4  Mud 
Lake,’  brought  to  us  by  Abel  Rasdall.  Mr.  Peck  sent  some 
of  them  to  a  Mineral  Point  hotel-keeper,  who  informed  us  he 
netted  $50  on  the  sale  of  the  soup.  The  turtles  were  frozen 
solid,  and  rattled  together  like  stones.  They  were  put  in  the 
cellar  to  thaw  before  we  could  dress  them,  and,  going  down  a 
few  days  after,  I  found  they  had  thawed  out  and  were  crawling 
around  on  the  bottom  of  the  cellar.  Mr.  Rasdall  had  a  squaw 
without  a  nose  —  her  first  Indian  husband  had  cut  it  off  for  her 
infidelity.  She  used  to  draw  her  blanket  over  it  when  she  walked 
out.  She  removed  west  with  the  rest  of  her  band  with  the 
United  States  troops,  before  we  left  Madison. 

“  I  have  not  mentioned  our  boating  amusements.  Before  any 
one  else  was  in  Madison  but  ourselves,  we  found  a  big  canoe, 
about  forty  feet  long,  supposed  to  have  been  abandoned  by  the 
Indians  the  year  or  two  previous,  in  the  Sauk  war;  and  while 
the  wind  was  blowing  almost  a  hurricane  from  Strawberry 
Point  (then  called)  across  Third  Lake,  Mr.  Peck,  his  brother 
Luther,  myself  and  a  boy  manned  and  womaned  the  canoe, 
with  various  implements,  tools,  sheets,  etc.,  and  struck  out  for 
the  place  before  mentioned,  rigged  our  sails  and  returned  to 
Madison ;  but  it  made  our  hair  whistle ;  the  waves  were  running 
high,  but  we  headed  her  straight,  she  being  such  a  length  she 
struck  two  waves  at  once,  which  steadied  her  sufficiently  to 
carry  us  safely  back.  We  had  quite  a  number  of  rides  in  the  old 
canoe,  but  after  ‘Uncle  Sam’s  boys’  came  in,  it  was  appropri- 


84 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


ated  by  others,  and  soon  disappeared.  I  was  determined  to 
have  another  vessel  of  some  kind  to  sail  or  paddle;  so,  when 
the  Indians  were  about  to  be  removed,  I  purchased  of  the  old 
Chief  Watt-con-da,  his  canoe  for  six  dollars,  painted  with  In¬ 
dian  hieroglyphics,  in  which  I  took  a  number  of  pleasant  rides, 
until  the  same  parties  who  took  the  first  boat  carried  off  the 
other  through  the  Catfish  to  the  further  end  of  Fourth  Lake, 
where  they  were  quarrying  stone  from  the  bluff  on  its  bank 
for  the  old  capitol,  and,  in  rolling  them  down  and  loading  the 
scow,  they  smashed  my  little  boat  all  to  pieces.  I  was  informed 
of  the  accident,  but  never  of  the  person  who  did  it.  So  you 
see  I  paddled  my  own  canoe  alone,  then,  as  I  have  since,  in 
more  ways  than  one. 

“You  wish  me  to  give  you  some  account  of  the  men  who 
built  our  cabin.  In  addition  to  Joe  Pelkie  and  Abraham 
Wood,  whose  names  I  have  given  in  a  previous  paper,  there 
was  a  Mr.  Lavec,  a  Frenchman.  He  had  also  a  squaw  wife. 
It  was  her  brother  that  was  stabbed  and  killed  by  another  In¬ 
dian,  just  below  our  house,  on  the  bank  of  Third  Lake,  which 
caused  such  an  excitement  among  ‘  Uncle  Sam’s  boys,’  as  they 
called  themselves,  I  suppose  on  account  of  being  employed  to 
work  on  the  capitol  at  the  expense  of  the  government.  They 
collected  around  our  house  under  great  excitement.  Some 
were  for  taking  the  murderer  prisoner,  and  sending  Governor 
Dodge  word;  finally  they  appealed  to  an  old  miner  that  had 
been  through  the  Sauk  war  a  couple  of  years  before,  who  was 
sitting  upon  a  wood-pile,  for  advice.  ‘Well,’  said  he,  ‘you  are 
a  pretty  set  of  Yankees!  What  do  you  suppose  Dodge  would 
say  to  you?  I  will  tell  you;  he  would  say  you  were  a  set  of 
fools.  If  that  dead  Indian  was  a  white  man,  I  would  be  the 

first  to  take  him  prisoner;  but  because  one - Indian  kills 

another - Indian,  not  a  bit  of  it !  I  don’t  move  a  foot.  Let 

them,’  said  he,  ‘  work  at  it  —  it  is  the  only  way  to  civilize  them 
and  clean  them  out.’  The  boys  finally  dispersed  to  their  dif¬ 
ferent  avocations.  Old  Mrs.  Pierce  and  family  were  very 
much  frightened,  and  said  we  would  all  be  massacred  before 
morning.  We  finally  got  them  quieted,  and  the  sister  of  the 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


85 


murdered  Indian  got  me  to  go  with  her  to  see  the  body,  and 
there  we  found  the  murderer,  sitting  upon  the  body  of  his  vic¬ 
tim  smoking  a  long  pipe,  as  deliberately  as  if  he  had  just  taken 
a  hearty  supper,  and  was  about  to  retire  for  a  peaceful  nap, 
and  to  dream  of  happy  hunting  grounds. 

u  You  wish  also  to  have  me  inform  you  of  some  of  the  names 
of  the  men  who  composed  Mr.  Bied’s  party  that  came  to 
build  the  capitol.  If  you  had  asked  for  this  information  some 
years  ago,  I  think  I  could  have  remembered  them  all,  but  now 
I  can  but  give  you  the  names  of  some  three  or  four  which  are 
not  on  the  list  you  sent  me.  There  was  William  and  John 
Symonds,  brothers.  The  youngest  had  been  brought  up  at  a 
tavern  and  was  useful  about  the  house,  we  offered  him  forty 
dollars  a  month,  and  Bied  released  him  for  our  benefit.  The 
elder,  William,  was  a  carpenter  and  continued  work  on  the 
capitol.  He  afterwards  married  the  daughter  of  an  old  settler 
that  kept  a  house  of  entertainment  near  Dodge ville,  by  the 
name  of  Skinnee.  After  we  came  to  Baraboo  to  live,  he, 
William,  moved  with  his  young  wife  to  Sauk  Prairie.  After 
we  left  the  log  tavern,  John  Symonds,  with  another  of  Bied’s 
men,  Jeffeeson  Holmes,  went  down  to  St.  Louis  and  died 
there.  Holmes  came  back  to  Madison  and  worked  on  the 
capitol,  and  also  for  us  afterwards.  There  was  another  party, 
named  Peaseley,  who  afterwards  married  Bied’s  sister,  Janet. 
Mr.  Peck  married  them.  They  first  settled  at  Sun  Prairie, 
on  the  place  afterwards  called  by  Col.  Botkin  the  ’76  farm. 

“  I  think  I.  H.  Palmee  did  not  come  with  Bied’s  men,  but 
soon  after.  He  subsequently  purchased  lands  at  Lodi,  where 
he  made  a  permanent  residence  and  where  he  still  lives. 

“  Another  of  the  early  comers  was  a  Mr.  Holloway,  who 
was  a  surveyor,  and  came  with  Doty  to  complete  laying  out 
the  town  of  Madison.  There  were  five  Bieds,  brothers  to  A. 

A.  Bied,  that  worked  more  or  less  on  the  capitol:  Peospee 

B. ,  Chaeles,  I.  Washington,  Zenas  B.  and  William.  I. 
W.  Bied  had  his  arm  badly  injured  by  a  saw  in  a  shingle 
machine  in  the  old  steam  mill.  I  do  not  recall  the  names  of 
more  of  the  workmen. 


86 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


u  It  may  be  interesting  to  make  a  note  of  tbe  first  born 
child  in  Madison  —  my  own  daughter,  born  September  14th, 
1837.  When  she  was  less  than  a  week  old,  Judge  Doty,  one 
of  the  Commissioners  for  the  erection  of  the  Capitol,  and 
Treasurer  of  the  Board,  arrived  from  Green  Bay,  with  a  large 
sum  of  specie,  guarded  by  Capt.  John  Symington  and  a  squad 
of  soldiers  from  the  garrison  at  Fort  Howard,  accompanied  by 
Charles  C.  Sholes,  an  early  editor  and  legislator  of  Wis¬ 
consin.  They  put  up  at  our  house.  Doty  ordered  a  table 
spread  with  wine,  and  he  and  [his  party  standing  around  it, 
as  solemn  as  a  funeral  —  prophetic  shadows  go  before  —  sipped 
their  wine,  and  named  the  young  babe  Wisconsiana.  Sim¬ 
eon  Mills  said  as  my  boy’s  name  was  Victor,  his  sister’s 
name  should  be  Victoria  —  in  honor  of  the  young  queen, 
who  had,  but  a  few  weeks  before,  ascended  the  English 
throne;  so  that  name  was  added,  making  her  full  name  Wis¬ 
consiana  Victoria  Peck.  She  has  been  married  several  years 
to  Nelson  W.  Wheeler,  Esq.,  an  attorney-at-law,  Baraboo, 
Wisconsin.” 

Mrs.  Peck  in  closing  her  article  says  that  she  is  now  sixty- 
six  years  of  age  and  resides  in  the  upper  part  of  the  building 
which  she  erected  at  Baraboo  —  the  first  in  the  village  of 
which  she  is  the  first  settler.  She  lives  alone,  and  says  she  has 
had  a  full  share  of  life’s  troubles  and  disappointments,  and  has 
received  but  few  of  its  favors. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


87 


CHAPTER  III. 

Visit  of  Gen.  W.  K.  Smith,  1837  — First  Legislature— “  Wisconsin 
Enquirer  ”  and  other  newspapers  —  Dane  County  Commission¬ 
ers —  Poll  List  of  1839  —  “  Madison  Express  ”  —  Judge  J.  G. 
Knapp’s  Account,  1838  —  July  4  Celebration  —  Schools  —  Mer¬ 
chants —  P.  E.  Church  Organized  —  R.  L.  Ream’s  Reminiscences, 
1838-9. 

In  the  summer  and  fall  of  1837,  Gen.  Wm.  R.  Smith  made  an  ex¬ 
tensive  tour  through  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin,  and  in  1838  pub¬ 
lished,  at  Philadelphia,  a  small  volume  entitled  “  Observations 
on  Wisconsin  Territory,”  a  work  containing  much  desirable 
information  for  emigrants  aud  tourists.  Gen.  Smith  shortly 
afterward  removed  to  Wisconsin  Land  made  it  his  permanent 
residence,  locating  at  Mineral  Point.  His  account  of  Madison 
and  the  Four  Lake  country,  is  very  interesting,  but  too  lengthy 
to  be  republished.  We  have,  however,  made  liberal  extracts: 

u  Although  the  Seat  of  Government  is  laid  out  on  the  strip 
of  land  between  the  lakes,  and  the  public  buildings  are  located 
here,  yet  an  extension  of  city  lots  has  been  made  by  the  land 
proprietors  all  around  the  Four  Lakes.  The  different  sites  bear 
the  name  of  East  Madison,  North  Madison,  the  City  of  the 
Four  Lakes  and  Mandamus.  I  have  called  Madison  a  contem¬ 
plated  city;  let  it  be  remembered  that  six  months  since,  the 
site  of  the  city  was  government  land;  now,  there  are  about 
thirty  houses  in  a  state  of  forwardness ;  a  steam  saw  mill  near 
completion;  a  population  of  above  one  hundred  active  mechan¬ 
ics  and  laborers  employed  in  their  own  improvements,  and  in 
the  erection  of  public  buildings  which  are  already  in  a  forward 
state;  add  to  this  picture  of  enterprise  and  industry,  the  excel¬ 
lent  accommodations  which  are  obtained  at  the  public  house  of 
Mr.  Peck,  and  the  traveler  may  well  be  surprised  at  the  rapid 
progress  of  the  city  of  Madison. 

“  The  connection  between  the  Fourth  and  Third  Lake  is 
not  navigable  for  steamboats  at  present  ( /)  the  stream  is  narrow 


88 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


and  rapid.  It  is  in  contemplation  to  cut  a  canal  through  the 
city  to  connect  the  lakes.  The  distance  from  the  head  of 
Fourth  Lake  to  the  foot  of  the  First  Lake  is  about  fourteen 
miles,  and  on  the  western  bank  of  this  lake  is  laid  out  a  town, 
called  u  The  City  of  the  First  Lake.”  I  did  not  visit  it,  and 
cannot  therefore  speak  of  its  localities.  The  site  of  the  u  City 
of  the  Four  Lakes,”  *  opposite  to  Madison  on  the  north  side  of 
the  lake,  is  a  most  beautiful  location.  Grov.  Dodge,  in  his  first 
message  to  the  Legislature,  said  that  the  Indians  had  been  known, 
in  high  water,  to  pass  in  canoes  from  Wisconsin  river  to  the 
Four  Lakes,  the  distance  being  only  twelve  miles.  He  there¬ 
fore  thought  it  a  work  of  but  little  labor  to  make  a  communi¬ 
cation  between  these  two  points.  It  is  quite  probable  that  the 
Legislature  at  its  next  session  will  make  a  law  for  that  pur¬ 
pose.! 

“  The  Fourth  Lake  is  a  beautiful  sheet  of  water,  six  [eight] 
miles  from  east  to  west,  and  four  [six]  miles  from  north  to 
south,  in  its  widest  parts;  its  regular  circumference  being  in¬ 
terrupted  by  the  protrusion  of  wooded  points  of  land  into  the 
lake.  The  water  is  from  fifty  to  seventy  feet  deep,  and  always 
preserves  its  pure  clearness,  and  sea  like  appearance  in  color, 
although  sometimes  disturbed  into  a  considerable  tumult 
of  waves  by  high  winds.  The  Third  Lake  is  less  than  the 

*“  The  City  of  the  Four  Lakes  ”  comprised  fractional  part  of  section 
6,  of  town  7,  range  9 ;  300  acres  laid  out.  The  town  was  platted  and  put 
on  record  July  7, 1836,  M.  L.  Martin,  W.  B.  Slaughter  and  J.  D.  Doty, 
proprietors. 

f  Such  utterances  by  observant  and  intelligent  men,  give  a  direct  clue 
to  the  leading  ideas  of  the  time.  The  mania  for  gain,  ran  to  villages  and 
canals.  Not  to  own  a  “  village  site,”  was  to  be  rated  a  poor  man  —  not 
to  put  faith  in  navigation  of  any  streams,  however  small,  was  to  lack  in 
spirit  of  enterprise.  A  row  of  villages  around  Fourth  Lake,  was  the 
dream  of  speculation.  A  canal  connecting  the  Rock  and  Wisconsin  riv¬ 
ers,  was  looked  upon  as  a  certainty  of  the  future  —  and  an  immigration 
that,  in  a  few  years,  would  enrich  every  one,  was  staple  belief,  and  acted 
upon  in  all  the  usual  transactions  of  life,  and  something  assured.  The 
present  generation  will  smile  at  all  this  —  to  the  early  settlers,  it  was  a 
bitter  experience. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


89 


Fourth,  and  the  Second  and  First  Lakes  gradually  diminish  in 
size  until  the  river  of  the  Four  Lakes  continues  its  regular 
course  to  the  junction  of  Rock  river.  *  *  *  * 

“  Springs  arise  all  around  these  lakes,  particularly  the  Fourth 
Lake,  supplying  the  great  mass  of  waters ;  but  a  principal  source 
is  a  considerable  stream  of  two  or  three  branches,  emptying  in, 
on  the  northern  shore  of  Fourth  Lake.  No  situation  can  be 
conceived  more  beautiful  than  the  shores  of  this  lake ;  the  land 
rises  gently  all  around  its  margin,  receding  and  rising  gradual¬ 
ly  into  a  gentle  eminence,  for  about  a  mile  from  the  lake,  and 
the  whole  of  this  lovely  shore  is  studded  and  adorned  with  spots 
of  wood  and  thick  groves,  giving  the  idea  of  the  park  scenery 
in  England,  or  the  rich  views  of  Italy;  and  more  beautiful  than 
either,  in  its  natural  state.  The  lake  abounds  with  the  finest 
fish,  perch,  bass,  catfish,  buffalo  fish,  muskelonge,  from  a  pound 
weight  to  thirty  pound  and  more.  The  shores  are  lined  with 
fine  shingle  and  white  sand,  and  amongst  the  pebbles  are  found 
chalcydone,  agate,  and  cornelian,  and  other  fine  and  beautiful 
stones  suitable  for  seals,  breastpins,  and  other  ornaments,  not 
only  often  but  in  abundance. 

“  With  regard  to  the  several  additions  to  Madison,  laid  out 
around  the  eastern  and  northern  shores  of  the  Fourth  Lake,  the 
towns  may  not  for  some  years  meet  the  sanguine  expectations 
of  the  several  proprietors,  but  it  may  with  truth  be  said,  that 
in  whatever  proportion  population  may  increase  in  all  or  any 
of  these  places,  compared  with  other  parts  of  the  Territory, 
there  cannot  be  found  in  any  part  of  Western  Wisconsin  situ¬ 
ations  more  healthy,  and  more  fertile,  or  prospects  more  beau¬ 
tiful  in  respect  to  land  and  water  scenery,  than  around  and  in 
the  vicinit}7  of  the  Four  Lakes;  this  region  must  in  a  short 
time  be  thickly  inhabited.”  *  *  *  * 

It  will  be  noticed  the  predictions  of  Gen.  Smith  have  not  all 
been  fulfilled;  while  the  city  of  Madison  has  become  all  that  he 
anticipated,  the  Catfish  is  not  yet  navigable  for  steamboats  and 
not  very  likely  to  be  for  years  to  come  —  the  projected  canal 
across  the  city,  was  abandoned,  which  also  may  be  said  of  the 
various  cities  laid  out  on  paper  around  the  lakes.  Many  persons 
7 


90 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


in  the  speculative  times  of  1836  and  ’37  invested  in  this  kind 
of  property,  but  only  to  find  that  they  were  losers  instead  of 
gainers. 

Hon.  J.  T.  Kingston,  of  Necedah,  Wisconsin,  informs  ns 
that  about  the  20th  of  December,  1837,  in  company  with  S. 
B.  Pilkington,  he  passed  through  Madison,  from  Racine.  He 
arrived  here  the  next  morning,  and  proceeded  north  to  the  Wis¬ 
consin  river.  The  prospects  of  Madison  did  not  at  all  appear 
promising  at  that  time  to  him,  and  the  business  of  mining  was 
the  only  one  that  held  out  any  inducements  to  immigrants. 

The  Legislature  of  the  Territory  met  for  the  first  time  in 
Madison,  on  the  26th  of  February,  1838.  The  capitol  was  not 
yet  in  a  suitable  condition  to  receive  the  Legislature,  so  that 
the  members  of  the  Council  met  in  the  little  room  on  the  left 
side  of  the  hall  of  the  American  Hotel,  and  the  House  of  Rep¬ 
resentatives  in  the  basement  dining  room,  in  which  permanent 
organizations  took  place.  In  the  basement  room  Gfov.  Dodge 
delivered  his  first  message  at  the  new  seat  of  government.  A 
resolution  was  adopted  appointing  a  joint  committee  to  exam¬ 
ine  the  public  buildings,  and  report  their  condition,  together 
with  the  probable  accommodation  to  be  afforded  the  Legisla¬ 
ture.  The  committee  reported  the  next  day  that  they  had  the 
assurance  of  the  Commissioner,  Mr.  Bird,  that  the  Representa¬ 
tives  Hall  and  Council  Chamber  would  be  in  readiness  on  the 
succeeding  day  for  the  Legislative  Assembly.  They  also  re¬ 
ported  that  the  keepers  of  the  three  public  houses  would  be  fully 
prepared,  during  the  week,  to  accommodate  the  members,  to- 
wit:  at  the  Madison  House,  two  rooms  that  will  accommodate 
six  persons;  at  the  Madison  Hotel,  two  rooms  that  will  accom¬ 
modate  four  persons  each;  and  at  the  American  Hotel,  eight 
rooms  sufficient  to  accommodate  twenty-six  persons;  and,  fur¬ 
ther,  that  not  more  than  fifty  persons  can  be  accommodated 
with  sufficient  rooms  for  the  transaction  of  business.  A  few 
days  later,  two  rooms  on  the  south  side  of  the  capitol  were  pro¬ 
nounced  in  readiness  for  the  reception  of  the  wise  men  of  the 
Legislature,  representing  18,130  inhabitants,  the  population  of 
the  then  Territory  of  Wisconsin.  The  counties  of  Green, 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


91 


Dane,  Jefferson  and  Dodge  were  represented  in  the  Council  by 
Col.  Ebenezer  Brigham  of  Blue  Mounds.  Speaking  of  the 
Representatives  Hall,  Col.  Childs  says:  “The  floors  were  laid 
with  green  oak  boards,  full  of  ice;  the  walls  of  the  room  were 
iced  over;  green  oak  seats,  and  desks  made  of  rough  boards; 
one  fire-place,  and  one  small  stove.  In  a  few  days  the  flooring 
near  the  stove  and  fire-place  so  shrunk,  on  account  of  the  heat, 
that  a  person  could  run  his  hands  between  the  hoards.  The 
basement  story  was  all  open,  and  James  Morrison’s  large 
drove  of  hogs  had  taken  possession.  The  weather  was  cold, 
the  halls  were  cold,  our  ink  would  freeze  —  so  that,  when  we 
could  stand  it  no  longer,  we  passed  a  joint  resolution  to  adjourn 
for  twenty  days,  and  I  was  appointed  by  the  two  houses  to 
procure  carpeting  for  both  halls  during  the  recess.  I  bought 
all  I  could  find  in  the  Territory,  and  brought  it  to  Madison, 
and  put  it  down,  after  covering  the  floor  with  a  thick  coating 
of  hay.  After  this  we  were  more  comfortable.” 

Judge  J.  Gr.  Knapp,  in  his  “  Early  Reminiscences  of  Madison,” 
in  speaking  of  the  first  Legislative  Session  at  Madison,  says: 
“  Having  organized  the  Legislature,  the  next  question  was  for 
members,  officers  and  lobby  to  find  places  to  eat  and  sleep  in. 
Though  we  paid  metropolitan  prices,  it  cannot  be  said  that  we 
had  exactly  metropolitan  fare.  But  men  were  remarkably 
accommodating  in  those  early  times,  and  without  a  grumble 
could  eat  ‘  hog  and  hominy  ’  or  1  common  doings  ’  when 
1  chicken  fixings  ’  could  not  be  had,  and  they  could  occupy  a 
‘  field  bed’  when  they  were  required  to  sleep  1  spoon  fashion.’ 
A  frontier  life  is  a  mighty  leveller  —  much  like  poverty  mak¬ 
ing  men  acquainted  with  strange  bedfellows.  The  1  school 
section  ’  of  the  1  American,’  embracing  most  of  the  garret, 
was  marked  into  lodging  places  by  cracks  in  the  floor,  and  its 
other  rooms  were  equally  crowded.  At  the  Madison  House, 
only  six  men  were  placed  in  a  room  sixteen  feet  square,  and 
four  others  had  a  place  at  the  fire  during  the  day  and  evening. 
The  floors  of  the  Madison  House  were  also  nightly  covered 
with  shake-downs  for  travelers  and  transient  visitors.  Happy 
were  those  men  who  could  find  places  in  the  few  private  houses 


92 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


where  four  men  might  find  two  beds  in  a  cold  room  ten  or  twelve 
feet  square.” 

Gen.  Geo.  P.  Delaplaihe,  a  well  known  citizen,  removed  here 
in  September,  1838.  He  was  engaged  for  a  time  with  Jas.  Mor- 
risoh  as  a  clerk  the  Commissioners1  Store. 

'  For  the  sake  of  preserving  some  additional  facts  connected 
with  the  early  history  of  Madison  we  may  add,  that  the  first 
Neiv  Years  was  duly  commemorated  at  the  hospitable  house  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  Peck;  and  her  husband’s  brother,  Luther 
Peck,  could  discourse  sweet  music  from  the  violin;  and  a  dance 
was  inaugurated,  which  lasted  two  days  and  two  nights.  In 
those  days,  with  but  a  weekly  mail,  and  that  sometimes  irreg¬ 
ular  and  uncertain,  and  but  four  families  in  the  plate,  some 
show  of  sociality  and  good  cheer  became  necessary,  to  chase 
away  the  ennui  that  might  otherwise  have  crept  in  during  the 
long  and  tedious  winter. 

The  first  wedding  in  Madison  took  place  at  Mr.  Peck’s,  on 
the  1st  of  April,  1838.  The  happy  bridegroom  was  Jairus 
S.  Potter,  better  known  as  Lohg  Potter,  a  tall  lank  fellow, 
to  contra-distinguish  him  from  Horace  Potter,  denominated 
Short  Potter;  and  the  bride  was  Miss  Elizabeth  Alleh, 
who  worked  in  Peck’s  family.  Gen.  Mills  procured  a  pretty 
bouquet  of  early  flowers  from  the  high  sandy  ridge  dividing 
Third  and  Dead  Lakes,  to  grace  the  occasion,  and  Mr.  Peck, 
who  was  a  justice  of  the  peace,  tied  the  matrimonial  knot,  which 
was  followed  by  a  dance,  Mrs.  Peck  officiating  on  the  violin, 
except  when  she  herself  tripped  gracefully  over  the  floor,  when 
Mr.  Ebeh  Peck  was  her  substitute.  Mr.  Potter  remained  in 
Madison  until  his  death,  about  1841;  and  his  widow  has  long 
since  passed  away.  Gen.  Mills,  Darwih  Clark,  and  Mrs. 
Prosper  B.  Bird,  who  were  present,  speak  in  terms  of  pleasant 
remembrance  of  this  primitive  wedding;  and  Gen.  Mills  adds, 
that  the  spring  of  1838  opened  unusually  early,  or  he  would 
not  have  been  able  to  procure  the  beautiful  bouquet  of  wild 
flowers  to  grace  the  wedding  festival. 

On  the  8th  of  November,  1838,  the  first  number  of  the 
u  Wisconsin  Enquirer  ”  was  issued,  the  first  newspaper  pub- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


93 


lished  here,  Josiah  A.  Noonan*  was  the  editor  and  proprietor, 
who  had  the  usual  enterprise  of  frontier  printers  in  getting  his 
office  opened. 

Mr.  Noox  ax  had  ordered  a  press  and  material  from  Buffalo 
to  come  by  way  of  the  lakes  to  Green  Bay,  and  thence  up  Fox 
river  on  barges  to  Fort  Winnebago,  whence  it  was  to  have 
been  carted  over-land  to  Madison.  The  bill  of  shipment  came 
in  due  time,  but  weeks  passed,  and  nothing  was  heard  of  the 
material.  The  season  was  getting  late,  and  no  press.  Finally 
Mr.  Noonan  engaged  Mr.  Hyer  to  mount  a  pony,  and  go  to 
Fort  Winnebago,  forty  miles  distant,  and  make  inquiry  about 
the  missing  material,  and  if  nothing  was  heard  of  it,  to  con¬ 
tinue  on  to  Green  Bay.  There  were  then  no  roads,  no  guides, 
no  regular  stopping  places;  by  the  route  taken  there  was  no 
clearly  defined  track  between  Madison  and  Fort  Winnebago, 
and  but  one  stopping  place,  a  half  breed’s  house,  within  ten  or 
twelve  miles  of  the  Fort.  But  from  Fort  Winnebago  to  Green 
Bay  there  was  a  good  military  road,  running  east  of  Lake 
Winnebago,  affording  a  good  route,  and  convenient  stopping 
places  among  traders  and  Indians.  On  reaching  Fort  Winne¬ 
bago,  Mr.  Hyer  gained  information  that  convinced  him  that 
the  press  and  material  had  been  thrown  overboard,  in  a  storm, 
in  Lake  Huron,  off  Mackinaw;  but  it  was  months  after  the 
unfortunate  event  before  its  fate  was  fully  known.  Satisfied 
that  it  would  be  useless  to  look  further  for  the  missing  printing 
material,  Mr.  Hyer  started  back  the  next  morning  for  Madi¬ 
son,  reaching  there  that  night,  and  gave  such  information  of 
the  matter  as  he  had  been  able  to  learn.  This  led  Mr.  Nooxax 

*  Josiah  A.  Noonan,  Esq.,  was  a  native  of  Montgomery  county,  New 
York,  and  educated  as  a  printer,  with  Chas.  S.  Benton,  of  Little  Falls, 
New  York.  In  1836  he  removed  to  Michigan,  and  in  1838,  after  the 
location  of  the  seat  of  government,  to  Madison,  Wis.,  and  was  publisher 
of  the  “  Wisconsin  Enquirer,”  and  elected  territorial  printer.  In  1840  he 
removed  to  Milwaukee  and  published  the  “  Milwaukee  Advertiser  ”  and 
afterwards  the  “  Morning  News.”  He  was  subsequently  appointed  Post¬ 
master,  which  position  he  held  a  number  of  years.  He  was  subsequently 
interested  in  the  Humbolt  Paper  Mill,  near  Milwaukee,  and  more  recently 
has  removed  to  Chicago,  where  he  is  the  publisher  of  the  “  Industrial  Age.” 


94 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


to  purchase  the  u  Racine  Argus' ’  and  transfer  the  material  to 
Madison,  followed  immediately  by  the  publication  of  the  “  Wis¬ 
consin  Enquirer ,”  the  first  number  of  which  appeared  on  the 
8th  of  November,  1838,  and  on  which  Mr.  Hyer  set  the  first 
type.  With  a  single  hand  press,  and  scarcely  any  conveniences, 
this  little  office  issued  a  newspaper,  the  bills,  journals,  reports, 
and  laws  of  the  Legislature,  including  a  revision  of  the  laws 
then  in  force.  It  was  published  in  a  room  over  the  Commis¬ 
sioner’s  Store  on  King  street.  It  was  a  six  column  weekly  and 
commenced  its  career  full  of  spirit  and  energy.  In  the  intro¬ 
ductory,  the  editor  says:  w  With  party  politics  we  shall  not  for 
the  present  take  any  very  active  part,  believing  that  there  is 
nothing  in  the  situation  of  the  Territory  that  makes  it  neces¬ 
sary  for  the  newspapers  in  it  now,  to  burthen  their  columns 
with  labored  discussions  of  the  common  political  questions  of 
the  day.” 

The  paper,  however,  was  not  long  free  from  politics.  The 
greatest  strife  was  of  a  local  nature.  Parties  at  that  day,  had 
not  become  fully  organized.  In  April,  1839,  Mr.  C.  C.  Sholes 
became  a  partner.  Other  changes  took  place  subsequently. 
George  Hyer,  J.  Gillett  Knapp,  Harrison  Reed,  David 
Lambert  and  Barlow  Shackleford  were  interested  in  its 
management.  It  was  discontinued  after  June,  1843. 

1839. — An  election  for  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Dane 
county,  was  held  in  May,  at  Madison,  which  was  the  only 
voting  place,  and  Simeon  Mills,  Eben  Peck  and  Jeremiah  Ly- 
can  were  elected.  At  their  first  meeting,  May  15,  at  the  Madi¬ 
son  Hotel,  they  chose  La  Fayette  Kellogg,  Clerk;  John  Sto¬ 
ner,  County  Treasurer;  Wm.  A.  Wheeler,  Assessor;  R.  L. 
Ream,  Register  of  Deeds;  David  Hyer,  Coroner;  Adam  Smith 
and  J.  Ubeldine,  Constables.  On  the  25th  of  May,  Gov.  Dodge 
appointed  John  Catlin,  District  Attorney;  Isaac  H.  Palmer, 
Judge  of  Probate;  N.  T.  Parkinson,  Sheriff;  Isaac  Atwood, 
Public  Administrator;  G.  P.  Delaplaine,  District  Surveyor, 
W.  N.  Seymour,  Justice  of  the  Peace,  vice  S.  Mills,  resigned, 
and  John  T.  Wilson,  Auctioneer. 

A  subsequent  meeting  of  this  board  was  held  May  15,  at 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


95 


which  time  most  of  the  persons  elected  presented  their  bonds, 
which  were  accepted.  On  the  16th  two  election  precincts 
were  established,  one  at  Madison,  and  the  other  at  Mound- 
ville  (Bine  Mounds);  at  the  former,  Prosper  B.  Bird, 
Darwin  Clark  and  J.  S.  Potter  were  appointed  Judges  of 
Election,  and  at  the  latter,  Prescott  Brigham,  J.  C.  Kellogg 
and  Sidney  Carman.  On  the  4th  of  June,  G-.  P.  Dela- 
plaine  filed  his  bond  as  District  Surveyor,  and  N.  T.  Parkin¬ 
son,  as  Sheriff.  On  the  5th  of  July  two  supervisors  were 
chosen;  No.  1,  Edward  Campbell,  No.  2,  Horace  Lawhience 
and  H.  Lawrence,  Chas.  S.  Peaslee  and  Isaac  Atwood  to  act 
as  commissioners  to  lay  out  a  county  road  in  the  direction  of 
Fort  Winnebago.  Tavern  licenses  were  fixed  at  $20  at  Madi¬ 
son,  and  $12  in  other  parts  of  the  county.  On  the  6th  of  July, 
the  Clerk  of  the  Board  was  authorized  to  receive  proposals  for 
the  erection  of  a  county  jail,  24  feet  long,  18  feet  wide  —  two 
rooms  —  one  story  high,  of  square  timber  —  walls  eight  inches 
thick,  and  Simeon  Mills  was  directed  to  make  a  loan  of  $1,000 
to  defray  the  expenses.  On  the  22d  of  the  same  month,  Robert  L. 
Ream  was  elected  Clerk  of  the  Board,  vice  L.  F.  Kellogg  re¬ 
signed.  Bids  were  received  for  the  erection  of  the  jail  from  P. 
W.  Matts,  Geo.  Vroman,  J.  S.  Potter,  Nelson  Hart  &  Co. 
Isaac  Atwood,  A.  Rasdall,  David  Hyer,  Thos.  Jackson  and 
N.  T.  Parkinson,  ranging  from  $1,139,  the  bid  of  J.  S.  Potter; 
to  $2,000  —  that  of  A.  Rasdall.  The  contract  was  awarded 
to  Mr.  Potter,  who,  failing  to  give  bonds,  it  was  given  to  N.  T. 
Parkinson,  for  $1,348.  The  building  was  erected  on  lot  10, 
block  113. 

On  the  25th  of  May,  1839,  the  “ Enquirer  ”  contained  an  ar¬ 
ticle  respecting  Dane  county,  in  which  the  whole  population 
was  estimated  at  three  hundred,  more  than  half  of  whom  re¬ 
sided  at  Madison.  This  was  doubtless  too  high  an  estimate,  as 
the  population  by  the  census  of  1840  was  but  314.  The  village 
then  contained  two  stores,  three  public  houses,  three  groceries 
and  one  steam  mill  —  in  all  thirty-five  buildings.  The  same 
article  states  that  prices  had  ranged  during  the  year  then  passed 
as  follows:  Corn,  $1.25  per  bushel;  oats,  75  cents;  potatoes, 


96 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


$1.00;  butter,  37J  cents  to  62%  cents  per  pound;  eggs,  37i  to  75 
cents  per  dozen;  pork  and  beef  7  to  12  cents  per  pound. 

Geo.  O.  Tiffany  and  Simeon  Mills  advertised,  September 
20,  to  run  a  stage  semi-weekly  from  Milwaukee  to  Madison  in 
connection  with  the  established  line  to  Mineral  Point. 

The  amount  of  the  assessment  roll  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
collector,  was  $2,974.71. 

On  the  30th  of  September  the  Board  gave  a  bounty  of  $3.00 
for  wolf  scalps.  On  the  3d  of  October  the  amount  was  reduced 
to  $1.00. 

As  a  matter  of  curiosity  we  give  the  names  of  the  voters  at 
Madison  precinct,  as  taken  from  a  poll  list,  August  5,  1839, 
now  in  possession  of  Darwin  Clark,  Esq.  Some  of  the  voters 
were  not  residents  of  the  village,  but  living  outside  of  the  lim¬ 
its.  At  that  time  but  few  farms  were  cultivated;  land  was 
abundant  and  at  moderate  prices,  and  the  voters  were  located  but 
a  short  distance  in  the  country :  Berry  Haney,  A.  A.  Bird,  Geo. 
A.  Tiffany,  John  Vosburg,  Geo.  Vroman,  Wm.  N.  Seymour, 
Darwin  Clark,  W.  W.  Wyman,  W.  G.  Simonds,  Dr.  Almon 
Lull,  John  Catlin,  John  T.  Wilson,  Simeon  Mills,  Abel 
Rasdall,  W.  G.  Van  Bergen,  Ebenezer  Brigham,  N.  T. 
Parkinson,  Chas.  H.  Bird,  Jeff.  Kinney,  Samuel  Chappell, 
Zenas  H.  Bird,  Reuben  Brown,  Abram  Wood,  Lucius  Ham¬ 
mond,  Prosper  B.  Bird,  Isaac  H.  Palmer,  Eben  Peck,  Thos. 
Jackson,  Jona.  Butterfield,  Chas.  S.  Peaslee,  Josiah  A. 
Noonan,  R.  L.  Ream,  W.  B.  Slaughter,  Geo.  H.  Slaughter, 
J.  Pelkie,  Adam  Smith,  A.  Wakefield,  W.  A.  Wheeler,  W. 
Ho  ad  ley,  David  Hyer,  H.  Lawrence,  J.  F.  Potter,  Geo.  Ba¬ 
ker,  Oliver  Armell,  John  Stoner,  John  Betts,  Henry  Fake, 
N.  C.  Prentiss,  Nelson  Hart,  Thos  Perry,  Isaac  Atwood, 
Hiram  Fellows,  Richard  Palmer,  and  Luther  Peck.  Total,  54 
voters. 

The  u  Madison  Express  ”  was  the  title  of  the  second  paper 
established  in  Madison.  The  first  number  was  issued  on  the  2d 
day  of  December,  1839.  W.  W.  Wyman,  editor  and  publisher. 
It  was  a  neatly  printed  six-column  weekly  paper,  starting  off  in 
support  of  the  then  Territorial  administration,  and  claiming  to 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


97 


be  devoted  to  the  advancement  of  the  best  interests  of  the 
people.  In  1840,  it  was  enlarged  to  a  seven  column  paper,  and 
came  out  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  Whig  party,  raising  the 
name  of  Wm.  H.  Harrison  at  the  editorial  head  —  declaring 
for  Harrison  and  Reform.  The  paper  continued  with  marked 
success  until  May,  1848,  when  it  was  temporarily  suspended.  In 
1848  the  office  was  purchased  by  David  Atwood  &  Royal 
Buck,  and  the  publication  was  resumed.  The  further  his¬ 
tory  of  this  and  other  Madison  newspapers  will  be  hereafter 
continued. 

Judge  Knapp*  gives  the  following  account  of  the  communi¬ 
cations  leading  to  and  from  Madison  at  his  first  visit : 

u  My  first  recollections  of  actually  seeing  Madison  and  its 
surroundings  carry  me  back  to  the  summer  of  1838,  when  after 
a  rapid  reconnoisance  for  a  canal  from  Waupun  to  the  head  of 
Duck  creek,  I  came  to  Madison  as  a  delegate  to  a  Territorial 
Congressional  convention.  Our  road  then  ran  on  the  west  side 
of  the  Fourth  Lake  (the  lakes  were  numbered,  and  had  no  spec¬ 
ial  names  in  those  days),  and  over  the  high  prairies  in  the 
western  part  of  Westport  and  Vienna,  coming  in  at  the  paper 
“City  of  the  Four  Lakes,”  through  Mandamus  and  around  the 
south  end  of  the  lake,  so  as  to  enter  the  present  road  near  the 
stone  quarry. 

“  But  two  roads,  then,  led  from  the  capitol  out  of  town,  the 
one  west,  partly  along  State  street  and  University  avenue,  to 
near  the  residence  of  A.  E.  Brooks.  There  it  parted,  one  run- 

*  Hon.  Jos.  G.  Knapp  was  born  at  New  Lebanon,  N.  Y.,  Sept.  21,  1805. 
He  studied  law,  and  removed  to  Wisconsin,  landing  at  Green  Bay,  Novem¬ 
ber  20,  1835.  He  came  to  Madison,  1839,  and  was  editor  and  proprietor 
of  the  Wisconsin  Enquirer  in  1842.  He  was  elected  by  the  Territorial 
Legislature  January  29,  1846,  Superintendent  of  Public  Property,  suc¬ 
ceeding  Hon.  John  Y.  Smith,  and  was  re-elected  February  9,  1847,  and 
March  9,  1848,  to  the  same  office.  Mr.  Knapp  practiced  law  in  Madison 
until  his  appointment  in  1861,  as  Associate  Judge  of  the  Territory  of  New 
Mexico.  This  appointment  he  held  until  1863,  when  he  returned  to  Wis¬ 
consin.  Judge  Knapp  has  written  much  for  the  newspapers  and  periodi¬ 
cals  on  agricultural  and  scientific  subjects  generally.  He  removed  to  New 
Mexico  in  1873,  and  resides  at  Mesilla. 


98 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  ARD  THE 


ning  southwest,  leading  towards  Green  county;  the  other  con¬ 
tinued  west  beyond  the  second  railroad  culvert,  at  which  place 
it  branched  for  Blue  Mounds  and  Fort  Winnebago.  The  Green 
county  road  branched  again  beyond  the  Dead  Lake,  for  Hume’s 
Ferry  over  Rock  river.  Janesville  was  then  scarcely  begun. 
This  then,  and  long  after,  was  the  road  to  Rock  and  Wal¬ 
worth  counties.  The  east  road  forded  the  Catfish  river  nearly 
where  the  bridge  now  is,  and  branching  soon  after,  one  led  to 
Cottage  Grove,  where  it  again  parted,  one  to  Lake  Mills,  and 
the  other  to  Fort  Atkinson.  The  main  track  followed  near  the 
present  road  to  Sun  Prairie,  and  thence  to  Lake  Mills  by  way 
of  Marshall,  then  called  u  Bird’s  Ruins.”f  It  was  by  this  line 
the  first  workmen  arrived  here  from  Milwaukee.  Near  the 
u  T6  ”  farm,  an  Indian  trail  ran  by  the  Prairie  House.  Horace 
Lawrence  lived  there  then,  in  a  little  house,  keeping  “  bach.” 
This  was  the  only  house  between  Madison  and  Rowan’s.  The 
trail  crossed  Token  creek  a  mile  above  the  present  village,  and 
then  ran  over  the  prairies,  striking  the  military  road  at  Row¬ 
an’s,  now  Poynette.  By  this  trail  I  returned  from  Madison. 
Then  there  were  no  roads  in  the  direction  of  Columbus,  Beaver 
Dam  and  Waupun.  In  fact  those  towns  were  then  unsettled, 
and  the  lands  unentered  at  the  land  office. 

Then  the  “  City  of  Four  Lakes  ”  J  had  a  very  decided  ad- 

f  Bird’s  Ruins  had  its  name  in  this  wise :  It  had  been  observed  by  Col. 
Bird’s  party  who  passed  there  in  June,  1837,  that  it  would  make  a  desi¬ 
rable  location;  and  as  Bird’s  trail  was  for  some  time  the  only  route  of 
travel  between  Milwaukee  and  Madison,  Zenas  H.  Bird,  a  brother  of  Col. 
Bird,  took  down  his  small  building  in  Madison,  about  the  spring  of  1839, 
and  re-erected  it  at  the  crossing  of  Waterloo  creek,  and  moved  there,  with 
the  view  of  establishing  a  tavern  at  that  locality,  and  put  up  a  much  larger 
frame  for  a  house;  but  by  the  autumn  of  that  year,  other  routes  of  travel 
begun  to  be  opened,  and  Mr.  Bird  regarding  the  prospects  as  unpromising, 
abandoned  the  premises,  and  returned  to  Madison ;  arid  left  to  the  action 
of  .storms  and  weather,  the  building,  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  years, 
fell  to  the  ground — and  hence  the  place  was  named  Bird’s  Ruins.  The 
village  of  Hanchettville,  since  changed  to  Marshall,  subsequently  sprung 
up  there.  Mr.  Bird,  an  early  hotel  keeper,  died  in  Madison  in  1843. 

J  A  post-office  was  established  here  before  the  one  at  Madison,  but  was 
discontinued  August  q,  1837. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


99 


vantage  over  Madison.  That  city,  owned  mostly  by  Virginia 
gentlemen,  had  houses  and  people;  Madison  had  no  such  luxu¬ 
ries,  but  it  had  an  energetic  proprietor.  To-day  one  is  a  city 
with  a  Mayor  and  common  council,  four  storied  stone  and  brick 
blocks,  with  moss  on  the  roofs,  railroads,  Nicholson  pavements, 
macadamized  streets,  sidewalks  and  stoned  gutters,  plenty  of 
debts  and  taxes,  thronged  streets  with  noise,  dust  and  jostlings 
of  business,  conflagrations  and  fire  engines.  The  other  city  is 
a  wheat  field,  or  grown  up  to  brush,  with  less  houses  than  it  had 
in  1836. 

The  anniversary  of  National  Independence  was  celebrated  in 
due  form  (1839).  John  Catlin,  Esq.,  was  President,  A.  A. 
Bird  and  Simeon  Mills,  Vice  Presidents.  The  Declaration  of 
Independence  was  read  by  Geo.  P.  Delaplaine,  and  the  Ora¬ 
tion  by  Wm.  T.  Sterling.  The  celebration  was  a  “great  suc¬ 
cess.”  Volunteer  toasts  were  given  by  S.  Mills,  A.  A.  Bird, 
G.  P.  Delaplaine,  R.  L.  Ream,  D.  Clark,  A.  Smith,  C.  Peas- 
lee,  E.  Brigham,  Wm.  N.  Seymour,  L.  F.  Kellogg,  Geo.  Hyer, 
and  others.  Some  of  the  toasts  were  very  severe  on  the  politi¬ 
cal  actions  of  Gov.  S.  T.  Mason,  Acting  Governor,  who  was 
for  some  reasons  exceedingly  unpopular.  Of  this  celebration, 
Judge  J.  G.  Knapp,  who  was  present,  remarks:  “  The  Madison- 
ians  having  determined  to  celebrate  the  Fourth  of  July,  and  to 
vary  for  the  occasion  the  usual  diet  of  bacon  and  fish,  “  Uncle 
Ab,”  of  the  “  Worser,”  had  agreed  to  deliver  them  a  fat  steer  for 
the  occasion.  The  evening  of  the  third  came,  and  Nichols 
also,  boisterously  happy.  Individually  he  had  commenced  an¬ 
ticipating  the  good  feeling,  which  the  keg  he  carried  in  his 
wagon,  intended  primarily  for  the  “Worser,”  but  ultimately  de¬ 
signed,  after  quadrupling  its  cost  in  favor  of.  that  institution, 
for  the  Madisonians,  whose  whistles  had  long  been  dry.  Men 
drank  “  Peckatonica  ”  and  “  Rock  river,”  in  those  days,  and 
thought  there  could  be  no  feast  without  it.  *  True  to  his  trust, 
Nichols  had  brought  the  steer,  and  tied  him  in  a  thicket  to  a 
burr  oak  tree,  near  the  intersection  of  Dayton  and  State  streets, 

*  “  Peckatonica  ”  and  Rock  river,”  and  the  names  of  some  other  streams, 
were  used  to  designate  various  grades  of  whisky. 


100 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


where  none  of  the  hungry  men  could  see  it.  Then  taking  one 
more  drink  from  his  “  pocket  pistol,”  he  advanced  to  the  crowd 
of  loungers  and  longers;  for  the  whisky  of  the  u  Worser”  had 
long  since  failed,  and  all  were  remarkably  dry.  The  keg  was 
unloaded  and  tapped  in  less  time  than  I  can  tell  it,  and  all  hands 
summoned  to  drink.  So  the  Fourth  of  July  began,  as  it  not 
unfrequently  happens,  on  the  third.  The  tethered  steer  was 
forgotten,  in  the  joy  that  whisky,  as  meat,  drink  and  lodging, 
prevaded  the  crowd;  and  none  enjoyed  it  more  than  u  Uncle 
Ab  ”  himself.  The  Madisonians,  next  day,  celebrated  the 
Fourth  in  due  course.  They  marched  in  due  form  to  martial 
music  made  by  two  squeaking  fiddles.f  Fiddlers  and  men  at 
the  head,  and  women  at  the  tail  of  the  line.  Geo.  P.  Dela- 
plaine  read  the  declaration,  and  William  T.  Sterling  deliv¬ 
ered  a  short  hut  broad  winged  eagle  oration.  After  which  the 
procession  reformed  in  close  order,  and  with  “double  quick” 
marched  back  to  the  “  Worser,”  and  to  the  public  dinner  of  ba¬ 
con  and  fish,  the  diet  of  other  days,  except  they  had  whisky  to 
drink.  They  eat,  they  drank,  and  they  danced  to  the  cheery 
notes  of  the  fiddles,  and  were  right  merry. 

Three  days  after,  when  the  keg  was  empty,  and  no  more 
whisky  to  he  had,  “Uncle  Ab  ”  sobered  of,  and  bethought  him 
of  the  steer  tied  to  the  burr  oak,  and  that  instead  of  having 
been  served  up  on  the  National  feast,  he  was  still  under  the 
tree.  There  it  was  that  the  butcher’s  knife  released  him  at  once 
from  his  three  days’  fast  and  from  life;  and  he  served  to  vary 
the  daily  diet  of  bacon  and  bread  on  common  days  of  the  year.” 

A  school  was  taught  by  Mr.  Edgar  S.  Searle,  in  the  sum¬ 
mer  of  1839.  Mr.  Searle  continued  one  term,  and  was  suc- 
ceded  in  the  summer  of  1840,  by  E.  M.  Williamson.  These 
gentlemen  and  their  successors,  taught  in  a  small  building  on 
the  corner  of  Pinckney  and  Dayton  streets.  The  building  is 
described  as  having  a  wooden  frame,  the  inner  walls  of  brick 
and  entirely  destitute  of  the  modern  conveniences  of  school 
houses  at  the  present  day.  Four  sticks  driven  into  —  sometimes 

f  George  W.  Stoner,  Esq.,  a  youth  at  that  time,  says  that  Eben  and 
Luther  Peck  played  the  fiddles,  and  Thomas  Hill  played  the  flute. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


101 


through  —  a  slab,  and  convex  side  down,  formed  movable  seats. 
Mr.  Williamson  taught  the  boys  only,  his  school  numbering 
about  six  pupils.  The  girls  were  taught  at  the  same  time  by  a 
Miss  Pierce,  in  an  old  building,  situated  in  the  vicinity  of  Dean’s 
new  block.  At  this  early  date,  thirteen  pupils  comprised  the 
membership  of  the  Madison  schools.  Mr.  Williamson  con¬ 
ducted  the  school  two  terms,  and  was  succeeded  in  the  winter 
of  1842,  by  Mr.  Theodore  Conkey. 

The  further  history  of  our  schools  will  be  continued  under 
the  proper  dates. 

On  the  14th  of  December,  1839,  Edward  Campbell  adver¬ 
tises  he  had  purchased  the  stock  of  Catlin  &  Mills  and  was  pre¬ 
pared  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  people  in  this  section,  that 
they  need  not  be  dependent  on  Mineral  Point,  Galena  and  Mil¬ 
waukee  for  supplies;  and  November  26,  N.  T.  Parkinson  &  Co., 
advertise  the  “  Madison  Exchange  ”  on  Doty’s  corner,  half 
way  between  the  American  and  Madison  Hotels.  These  two 
merchants  are  the  only  persons  who  advertised  in  the  Madison 
Express ,  the  others  were  small  dealers.  In  November,  David 
Brigham  &  Thos.  W.  Sutherland  advertised  a  law  office 
and  land  agency. 

The  first  steps  taken  for  the  establishment  of  a  church  at 
Madison  were  as  follows :  A  paper  was  drawn  up  in  the  follow¬ 
ing  form  with  the  accompanying  signers,  on  the  25th  of  July, 
1839.  E.  M.  WiLLiAMSONvEsq.,  has  kindly  furnished  a  copy  of 
the  same: 

“We,  whose  names  are  hereunto  attached,  believing  the  Holy 
Scriptures  to  be  the  word  of  God,  and  deeply  feeling  the  import¬ 
ance  of  maintaining  divine  services  in  our  town,  and  preferring 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  to  any  other,  we  hereby  unite 
ourselves  into  a  parish  of  the  said  church  for  the  above  and  every 
other  purpose  which  is  requisite  and  necessary  to  the  same. 

“  Madison,  July  25, 1839. 

“  Signed  by  John  Catlin,  J.  A.  Noonan,  Henry  Fake,  H. 
Fellows,  M.  Fellows,  A.  Hyer,  H.  Dickson,  H.  C.  Fellows, 
Adam  Smith,  A.  Lull,  Almira  Fake,  La  Fayette  Kellogg, 
George  C.  Hyer,  J.  Taylor,  A.  A.  Bird,  David  Hyer.” 


102 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


The  history  of  this  church  will  he  continued  hereafter. 

We  find  that  John  T.  Wilson  and  Elias  J.  Williams  were 
in  business  here  as  blacksmiths,  in  1839.  In  December  Mr. 
Williams  retired.  Catlin  and  Noonan  advertised  a  general 
land  office  business;  W.  N.  Seymour  &  J.  T.  Clark,  attorneys, 
D.  Brigham  &  T.  W.  Sutherland  were  practicing  law  and 
land  office  agency.  Jas.  Morrison  advertised  the  American 
Hotel  for  sale  August  31,  1839,  and  on  the  2d  of  September,  it 
was  advertised  by  Kintzing  Pritchette  by  his  attorney  M.  M. 
Strong.  The  title  of  this  property  even  at  that  date  was  in 
dispute,  and  was  not  settled  until  many  years  afterwards.  Ed¬ 
ward  Campbell  advertised  that  he  had  purchased  the  stock  of 
Catlin  &  Mills,  and  proposed  continuing  the  business.  Mrs. 
Louisa  M.  Sawin,  formerly  Miss  L.  M.  Brayton,  says  that  in 

1837  she  taught  a  select  school  in  Madison.  The  first  one  in 
the  town. 

Robert  L.  Ream,  Esq.,*  an  early  settler,  now  a  resident  of 
Washington,  D.  C.,  has  kindly  furnished  his  reminiscences  of 

1838  and  1839,  which  are  here  given: 

u  In  the  latter  part  of  April,  in  the  year  1838,  I  first  visited 
Madison.  I  traveled  there  in  company  with  Mr.  Wells,  who, 
with  a  two-horse  team,  was  supplying  the  people  of  Madison 
with  produce  from  his  farm  in  Green  county.  Madison  then 
consisted  of  not  more  than  a  dozen  houses,  built  and  in  pro¬ 
cess  of  erection,  counting  every  cabin  and  shanty  within  three 
miles  of  the  capitol,  and  was  the  only  market  for  Green  county 
farmers. 

“  Mr.  Wells  and  I  left  Monroe,  then  called  New  Mexico,  in 
the  morning,  and  reached  Grand  Springs,  near  Sugar  river,  late 
in  the  afternoon,  and  camped  there  for  the  night.  This  was 
before  the  land  there  was  entered  by  Mr.  McFadden,  and  the 
Springs  had  not  yet  been  named.  We  built  a  large  log  fire, 

*  Robert  L.  Ream  was  born  in  Centre  county,  Penn.,  October  16,  1809; 
emigrated  to  Ohio  in  1832,  and  from  thence  to  Wisconsin.  While  a  resi¬ 
dent  of  Madison  he  held  a  number  of  offices.  He  now  resides  at  Washing¬ 
ton,  D.  C.,  and  has  held,  for  a  number  of  years,  a  position  in  the  General 
Land  Office. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


103 


(to  keep  off  the  wolves,  as  Mr.  Wells  said),  and  fried  our  ba¬ 
con  and  boiled  our  coffee.  The  aroma  from  our  dainty  dishes 
must  soon  have  filled  the  atmosphere,  for  the  prediction  of  Mr. 
Wells  was  verified  in  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time,  by 
the  surrounding  of  our  camp  with  prairie  wolves  in  droves. 
Then  commenced  such  a  snarling,  fighting,  barking  and  howl¬ 
ing  as  I  never  heard  before  or  since.  They  made  the  ‘  night 
hideous,’  and  kept  up  the  music  with  a  thousand  and  one  varia¬ 
tions  until  morning’s  dawn.  During  the  night  we  chopped 
down  more  trees,  cut  them  into  logs,  and  kept  up  a  rousing 
fire,  the  roar  and  crackle  of  which  made  a  splendid  accompani¬ 
ment  to  our  opposition  concert  in  camp,  which  consisted  of 
negro  melodies  and  camp-meeting  songs,  which  we  had  learned 
from  the  Hoosier  prairie  breakers  in  Greene,  where  it  had  been 
my  good  fortune  to  serve  an  apprenticeship  at  prairie  break¬ 
ing.  Thus  we  spent  a  sleepless  night  (my  first  night  in  Dane 
county).  We  struck  camp  early  next  morning,  without  bid¬ 
ding  our  recently  made  acquaintances  a  very  formal  adieu. 

“We  found  the  then  traveled  road  very  crooked  and  winding, 
and  running  at  almost  all  points  of  the  compass,  and  when 
within  five  or  six  miles  of  Stoner’s  prairie  we  halted  and  took 
observations.  After  determining  the  proper  course  to  take  in 
the  direction  of  Madison,  I  went  ahead  with  an  axe,  blazing 
trees.  Mr.  Wells  followed  with  his  team.  We  struck  the 
prairie  where  George  Yromax’s  farm  was  afterwards  located. 
The  road  which  I  then  blazed  was  afterwards  adopted  by  the 
public  and  traveled  for  many  years.  After  passing  through 
the  prairie,  we  followed  the  old  trail  to  Madison,  where  we  ar¬ 
rived  the  second  day. 

“  Having  business  at  Fort  Winnebago,  and  there  being  no 
travel  in  that  direction,  I  was  compelled  to  make  the  journey 
alone,  so  I  negotiated  with  Mr.  Ubeldi^e  for  a  roan-colored, 
bob-tailed  Canadian  pony,  with  cropped  mane,  large  ears  and 
white  belly.  Mr.  Ubeldi^e  kept  the  only  livery  stable,  and 
this  was  the  only  horse  to  be  hired  in  Madison.  On  this  im¬ 
posing  steed  I  seated  myself  next  day,  and  started  for  the  fort, 
forty  miles  distant  by  the  trail.  There  was  no  wagon  road 


104 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


from  Madison  in  that  direction,  and  the  only  two  houses  be¬ 
tween  there  and  the  fort-were  those  of  Wm.  Lawrence  near 
Token  creek,  and  Wallace  Rowan’s  hotel  on  the  military 
road,  some  thirty  miles  distant  from  Madison.  At  this  hotel  I 
put  up  for  the  night,  and  being  not  much  used  to  that  particu¬ 
lar  kind  of  locomotion,  was  very  tired.  Rowan’s  wife  served 
me  bountifully  with  hoe  cake  and  bacon.  I  then  went  to 
sleep  and  slept  soundly  until  towards  morning,  when  I  was 
aroused  by  several  cocks  crowing  simultaneously  in  close  prox¬ 
imity  to  my  bed.  I  did  not  discover  until  daylight  that  the 
foot  rail  of  my  bedstead  was  the  roost  of  Mr.  Rowan’s 
chickens. 

“  I  remained  the  next  night  at  Fort  Winnebago,  and  pick¬ 
eted  my  pony  on  a  grass  plot  near  the  hotel,  giving  him  about 
thirty  feet  of  rope.  The  hotel  was  the  only  house  where  trav¬ 
elers  could  be  entertained  outside  the  garrison.  Mr.  Henry 
Merrill  and  his  family  lived  in  it.  I  found  the  accommoda¬ 
tions  excellent.  An  amusing  incident  occurred  there  that  night 
which  I  cannot  help  mentioning.  In  the  room  in  which  I 
slept  were  four  beds,  one  in  each  corner,  and  all  curtained.  I 
occupied  one  of  these  beds,  and  it  appears  that  the  other  three 
were  occupied  by  gentlemen  and  their  wives.  In  the  night  we 
were  all  aroused  by  a  cry  of  robbers,  thieves,  Indians,  etc.  All 
started  up  at  the  alarm,  the  ladies  shrieking  with  fright.  The 
room  was  dark,  and  in  the  confusion  we  ran  against  each  other 
very  amusingly.  When  a  light  was  struck,  the  scene  was  ex¬ 
tremely  ludicrous  —  ladies  in  their  night  clothes  looking  like 
affrighted  ghosts,  some  of  them  clinging  to  the  wrong  man; 
men  without  any  night  clothes,  and  very  little  of  any  other 
kind,  making  frantic  exertions  to  find  out  the  cause  of  the  dis¬ 
turbance.  The  supposition  was,  that  some  soldiers  had  been 
on  a  carousal,  and  had  mistaken  the  hotel  for  the  garrison ;  but, 
under  the  charge  of  Capt.  Lowe,  such  a  breach  of  the  regula¬ 
tions  would  never  have  been  allowed;  and  the  cause  of  the 
alarm  was  not  satisfactorily  explained. 

“  I  found  my  pony  safe  in  the  morning.  The  gallinippers 
had  worried  him  badly,  and  kept  him  in  motion  most  of  ^he 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


105 


night;  the  blood  was  still  oozing  through  his  perforated  skin. 
Then,  and  not  until  then,  did  I  realize  the  true  force  of  the  ex¬ 
pression  ‘thicker  than  mosquitoes.’  The  atmosphere  was  lit¬ 
erally  filled  with  them.  In  those  days,  persons  in  the  habit 
of  traveling  much,  were  obliged  to  protect  their  faces  and 
heads  with  gauze  or  mosquito-bar  vails,  so  very  great  was  the 
annoyance  of  these  insects. 

“I  will  here  digress,  and  relate  some  of  the  incidents  told 
me  at  that  time  about  the  frontier  soldier’s  life. 

“  It  often  happens  that  the  government  troops  in  these  west¬ 
ern  outposts  become  badly  demoralized  and  mutinous.  When 
watched  so  closely  that  they  cannot  safely  carry  bottles  or  jugs 
of  liquor  into  quarters,  they  resort  to  every  imaginable  means 
of  smuggling  it  in.  They  have  been  known  to  saturate  their 
blankets,  overcoats  and  other  garments  with  whisky  obtained 
of  the  sutler,  then  pass  the  guards  unsuspected,  and,  after 
reaching  quarters,  wring  out  the  whisky  and  drink  it. 

“  Shortly  previous  to  my  visit  to  the  Fort  a  mutiny  was 
threatened  there.  Capt.  Lowe  was  in  command.  The  sentinels 
at  the  gate  refused  to  obey  orders,  which  was  reported  to  the 
captain.  He  made  his  appearance  in  due  time,  and  demanded 
an  explanation.  As  the  sentinel  whom  he  suspected  for  disloy¬ 
alty  was  performing  some  extra  evolutions  which  the  captain 
did  not  care  to  exactly  understand,  he  suddenly  raised  his  right 
foot,  and  dexterously  brought  it  with  full  force  against  the  head 
of  the  sentinel,  and  brought  him  sprawling  at  his  feet.  This 
improvised  tactic  —  (not  in  the  manual)  —  was  so  demonstrative 
that  the  mutineers  quailed  before  him,  and  at  once  subsided  into 
submission,  and  no  further  attempt  at  mutiny  was  made  during 
his  command  at  the  Fort. 

“  Returning  to  Madison,  I  spent  the  next  night  at  Mr.  Rowr- 
an’s,  slept  in  the  same  bed,  and  as  before  was  awakened  at  cock 
crowing.  At  the  dawn  of  day  I  discovered  what  I  thought 
was  a  small  flock  of  sheep,  scattered  around  on  the  floor,  but  on 
closer  observation,  I  found  they  were  Indians.  They  had  come 
in  during  the  night  from  some  trading  post,  where  they  had 
8 


106 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


obtained  new  white  blankets,  and  had  taken  possession  of  the 
floor,  without  ever  disturbing  my  slumber. 

“  From  Madison  back  to  Monroe  there  was  no  mode  of  con¬ 
veyance,  and  I  made  this  journey  on  foot  in  one  day.  It  was 
then  fully  forty  miles  by  the  meanderings  of  the  road.  There 
were  no  bridges,  and  I  was  obliged  to  wade  Sugar  river  and  its 
tributaries  as  well  as  several  large  marshes,  in  some  of  which 
the  track  lay  knee  deep  under  water,  and  I  suffered  severely 
with  the  rheumatism  in  consequence  thereof. 

u  Aside  from  the  promising  prospect  of  Madison  as  the  seat 
of  government  of  a  great  state  not  far  in  the  future,  I  became 
so  infatuated  with  the  natural  beauties  of  the  place,  that  I  soon 
determinated  to  make  it  my  home.  Like  an  emerald  gleaming 
among  pearls  it  nestled  amid  the  clear  placid  waters  of  the 
F our  Lakes,  and  the  view  from  the  undulating  surface  of  the 
country  around,  was  a  setting  well  fitted  for  the  unsurpassed 
jewels,  not  unworthy  of  comparison  with  the  famous  views  from 
the  shores  of  Lakes  Como  and  Magaire  or  the  Bay  of  Naples  in 
the  old  world. 

u  In  the  latter  part  of  May  or  June  of  the  same  year  I  made 
another  trip  to  Madison,  when  I  negotiated  with  Mr.  Peck  for 
the  Madison  House,  and  in  the  month  of  June  removed  my 
family  there  and  took  possession  as  the  landlord.  This  was  the 
first  house  in  Madison,  now  passed  from  our  view  into  chaos,  the 
shadow  only  remaining  —  it  has  been  photographed  —  was  not 
an  isolated  cabin,  but  comprised  two  log  cabins  built  of  oak 
logs,  each  cabin  twenty  feet  square,  one  and  a  half  stories  high, 
the  inside  hewed  slightly  with  an  axe  to  straighten  the  walls, 
the  cracks  between  the  logs  chinked  and  daubed  with  mortar. 
These  cabins  were  set  about  twenty-four  feet  apart,  the  space  be¬ 
tween  them  boarded  up,  roofed  with  oak  plank,  battened  with 
slabs  and  floored  with  puncheons,  as  was  also  the  balance  of  the 
house.  There  were  plentj^  of  doors  and  windows.  The  grand 
hall  between  the  cabins  made  a  spacious  dining  room,  answered 
well  for  a  ball  room,  and  was  often  used  for  holding  caucuses  and 
secret  councils  under  lock  and  key.  On  the  north  side  there 
was  also  a  cabin  built  of  logs,  shed  shape,  called  a  lean-to;  this 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


107 


building,  made  a  large  kitchen  and  room  for  servants.  I  take 
that  haclf,  there  were  no  servants  but  the  mistress  of  the  house. 
The  hired  help  occupied  it  when  we  had  any.  To  this  we  built 
an  additional  room  of  frame  work  boarded  with  shakes  and 
roofed  with  shingles,  for  a  family  room. 

“  The  pioneers  of  a  new  country  before  the  era  of  railroads, 
telegraphs  or  mail  facilities,  can  only  realize  the  domestic  trials, 
troubles  and  turmoils  incident  to  a  back  wood’s  life.  Fortu¬ 
nately  there  were  few  lady  travelers  on  account  of  the  great  in¬ 
conveniences  in  modes  of  travel  and  accommodations  on  the 
road. 

“  There  was  a  number  of  Indian  wigwams  around  us,  some  in 
sight  of  our  doors;  at  first  Mrs.  Ream  lived  in  great  fear  and 
dread  of  them,  and  attributed  her  peace  and  the  success  with 
which  she  gained  their  good  graces,  to  a  large  bunch  of  pea¬ 
cock  feathers  which  she  had  brought  with  her,  and  dealt  out 
to  them  one  by  one.  They  seemed  to  have  a  talismanic  effect. 
We  made  repeated  endeavors  to  civilize  them  and  teach  them 
to  be  of  service  to  us,  but  their  utter  disregard  to  cleanliness 
and  innate  laziness  baffled  all  our  efforts.  Hired  girls  were 
out  of  the  question,  and  the  stronger  sex  were  consequently  of¬ 
ten  to  be  seen  bending  gracefully  over  the  cook  stove  or  wash- 
tub,  as  well  as  cleaning  and  scrubbing.  On  one  occasion  we 
were  happily  relieved  for  some  weeks  by  the  assistance  of  two- 
young  ladies,  the  Misses  Peirce  of  Green  county.  Their  help 
was  invaluable  to  us,  but  it  seemed  so,  also  to  others,  for  they 
both  soon  returned  to  be  married  to  worthy  men  of  their  own 
county.  One  became  Mrs.  Rust,  the  other  Mrs.  Rattan,  both 
well  to  do  farmers’  wives.  Next  there  came  along  a  Teutonian 
named  Schwartze,  with  a  kit  of  cabinet  maker’s  tools  upon 
his  back,  which  he  had  packed  all  the  way  from  Milwaukee  to 
Galena,  expecting  to  find  work  there  but  failed,  then  returning 
by  way  of  Mineral  Point,  reached  Madison  broken  down,  dis¬ 
couraged  .  and  disheartened  and  without  a  penny.  I  think  it 
was  on  the  4th  of  July,  1838,  when  he  arrived,  at  any  rate  the 
people  ot  Madison  were  holding  a  jubilee  of  some  kind,  and  a 
ball  was  coming  off  at  the  Madison  House.  Our  newly  arrived 


108 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


guest  desired  to  engage  in  the  festivities,  provided  he  could 
borrow  some  clean  clothes  suitable  to  the  occasion.  These  were 
soon  forth  coming  from  our  wardrobe,  and  when  properly  ar¬ 
rayed  he  became  the  grand  attraction  of  the  occasion,  and  ex¬ 
hibited  his  accomplishments  by  waltzing  a  long  time  with  a 
tumbler  filled  with  water  on  his  head.  He  was  nearly  sixty 
years  of  age,  but  as  agile  and  as  active  a  boy  of  ten.  As  we  could 
converse  with  him  in  his  native  tongue,  he  was  loth  to  leave, 
and  more  from  sympathy  than  anything  else,  we  engaged  him 
to  make  some  articles  of  furniture,  such  as  could  be  wrought 
from  oak  or  basswood  lumber  as  we  had  no  other  kind.  Among 
other  useful  articles  that  he  constructed  was  a  wheelbarrow. 
When  he  had  finished  his  mechanical  labors  we  employed  him 
as  head  cook  at  the  rate  of  seventy-five  dollars  per  month,  and 
he  was  also  to  keep  the  household  furniture  in  repair.  He  was 
exceedingly  kind  and  clever  all  the  time,  looking  out  for  our 
interests.  He  remained  with  us  several  months.  I  remember 
one  strong  blustering  day  in  the  fall,  Judge  Doty  and  Col. 
Morrisom  arrived  with  their  ladies.  They  had  traveled  all  the 
way  from  Mineral  Point  without  rest  or  refreshment  and  re¬ 
ported  themselves,  tired,  cold  and  hungry.  With  orders  to  get 
the  best  supper  the  house  could  afford,  Schwartze  was  soon 
in  the  dough  up  to  his  elbows  and  some  one  else  was  directed  to 
build  a  fire  in  a  large  Franklin  stove  standing  in  the  best  room, 
which  had  been  placed  at  the  service  of  our  distinguished  guests. 
There  had  been  no  fire  in  the  stove  during  the  past  season,  and 
it  was  not  discovered  until  the  smoke  gave  warning  that  there 
was  a  large  crack  or  fissure  in  the  back  of  the  stove.  The  fact 
was  soon  made  known  to  Mr.  Schwartze,  who  felt  bound  to . 
see  everything  about  the  house  in  good  repair,  ran  with  an  un¬ 
baked  loaf  of  bread  in  his  hands,  clapped  it  on  the  crack  in  the 
stove  and  filled  it  up,  thus  stopping  the  smoke  for  the  time  be¬ 
ing.  He  returned  to  the  kitchen  congratulating  himself  upon 
his  ingenuity  in  improvising  so  readily  this  cement.  As  soon 
as  the  stove  became  heated  the  dough  baked  and  burned,  thus 
causing  a  denser  smoke  than  before,  and  the  ladies  were  obliged 
to  leave  the  room.  Mrs.  Ream,  who  was  somewhat  more  prac- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


109 


tical  in  an  emergency  than  the  German  cook,  soon  mixed 
another  cement’of  salt,  ashes  and  vinegar,  which  answered  the 
purpose  well,  and  the  weary  travelers  were  soon  quite  comfort¬ 
able  in  their  room. 

“Not  long  after  this,  our  Teutonic  friend,  having  earned 
enough  money  to  make  a  payment  on  his  lot  in  Milwaukee, 
disposed  of  his  kit  of  tools,  left  for  his  home  in  Milwaukee, 
and  we  worked  our  own  way  as  usual.  Our  customers  and  pa¬ 
trons  were  not  at  all  fastidious.  They  were  satisfied  with 
clean  beds,  good  board  and  genteel  treatment,  and  this  we  al¬ 
ways  provided  to  the  fullest  extent  of  our  ability.  There  was 
by  this  time  a  large  amount  of  travel  through  Madison,  and 
some  sixty  or  seventy  men  at  work  on  the  capitol.  We  boarded 
a  large  number  of  them,  and  our  house  was  often  crowded,  so 
that  floor  room  could  not  always  be  had  at  4  two  pence  per 
square  foot,’  and  the  difference  between  the  bare  puncheons 
and  shakedown  was,  4  you  pays  your  money  and  takes  your 
choice.1 

“We  found  it  necessary  to  make  many  improvements  to  get 
along.  The  first  of  importance  was  sinking  a  well  on  the 
premises.  When  the  shaft  was  excavated  there  could  be  no 
one  found  to  build  the  wall,  and  I  was  obliged  to  do  it  myself. 
I  used  cobble  stone,  and  made  a  good  job  it.  Having  met  with 
success  as  a  well-maker,  I  turned  oven  builder,  and  built  an 
out-door  bake  oven  of  clay  mixed  with  straw,  which  required 
the  same  kind  of  labor  and  material  that  caused  the  children  of 
Israel  to  rebel  against  their  taskmasters.  The  oven  was  a  suc¬ 
cess  also,  and  answered  us  and  our  neighbors  until  Fkank 
Shaw  came  from  Mineral  Point  and  started  a  bake  shop  across 
the  street.  Shaw  was  a  genial  Frenchman  and  full  of  fun. 
The  building  he  occupied  was  about  eighteen  feet  square,  two 
stories  high.  The  upper  story  was  used  as  a  lodging  room,  and 
the  lower  story  as  a  bakery  and  grocery.  We  kept  a  temper¬ 
ance  house,  and  Than’s  grocery  profited  largely  by  it,  as  both 
bread  and  whisky  could  be  had  there  on  reasonable  terms. 
“Than”  unabbreviated,  means  Nathaniel  T.  Pakkinson, 
who  was  afterwards  elected  sheriff  of  the  county,  and  held  the 


110 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


sheriff’s  office  in  this  bake-shop  grocery.  There  was  as  yet  no 
prison  in  the  county,  and  when  the  sheriff  made  arrests  or 
brought  in  prisoners,  they  were  at  once  presented  at  the  bar, 
treated,  and  placed  in  the  care  of  Shaw  as  jailor,  with  orders 
to  feed  and  treat  them  well;  they  were  then  put  upon  their 
parole,  with  orders  to  report  themselves  at  the  bar  at  least  three 
times  a  day.  It  is  but  just  to  say  that  these  prisoners  rarely 
forfeited  their  parole,  the  kind  and  liberal  treatment  they  re¬ 
ceived  at  the  hands  of  the  sheriff  as  well  as  their  custodian 
Shaw,  endeared  them  to  these  officers;  and  there  was  no 
grumbling  or  cutting  down,  or  disputing  sheriff’s  accounts  in 
those  primeval  days. 

u  Covalle  and  Pelkie  furnished  us  with  daily  supplies  of 
fish  from  the  lakes  until  we  were  sufficiently  skilled  in  fishing 
to  procure  our  own  supplies.  Shooting  pickerel  in  the  Catfish 
river  soon  came  to  be  one  of  the  grand  sports  of  the  time. 
When  the  fish  4  run  up  1  they  are  shot  in  shoal  water  in  large 
quantities,  which  is  done  by  simply  discharging  your  loaded 
piece  at  the  fish;  neither  ball  nor  buckshot  will  penetrate  the 
water  over  an  inch  or  so,  but  the  fish  are  stunned  by  the  re¬ 
port  and  concussion  of  the  water,  and,  in  a  twinkling,  are  on 
their  backs  and  easily  captured.  Spearing  fish  was  the  next 
best  sport,  and  many  nights  have  I  spent  at  the  outlet  of 
Fourth  Lake  when  the  channel  was  narrow,  and  a  single  log 
which  was  used  for  a  footbridge  spanned  the  stream,  in  spearing 
fish  of  almost  every  kind.  The  water  was  very  clear,  and  with 
a  good  brush  fire  on  both  sides  of  the  stream,  sufficient  light 
was  furnished  to  see  all  the  fish  as  they  swam  by.  From  the 
foot  bridge  you  could  spear  all  you  wanted.  It  was  not  an 
unusual  thing  for  Ed.  Geokge  and  myself  to  return  with  our 
boat  loaded  to  the  water’s  edge  with  fish  of  many  different 
kinds  as  the  reward  of  one  night’s  labor.  Fishing  with  a  spoon 
hook  was  also  a  favorite  sport,  and,  when  winter  came,  we 
fished  with  scoop  nets  through  holes  cut  in  the  ice.  In  those 
days  we  always  fished  for  fish  —  never  for  fun. 

“  On  the  south  side  of  Third  Lake  there  is  a  small  estuary  or 
inlet  from  a  spring.  In  approaching  that  inlet,  one  time,  I 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


Ill 


espied  a  red  fox  near  the  water,  on  the  lookout  for  game ;  being 
ourious  to  know  what  he  was  after,  I  kept  some  distance  where 
I  could  watch  him  unobserved.  Suddenly  he  sprung  into  the 
water  and  hauled  out  a  large  pickerel,  longer  than  himself,  and 
commenced  tearing  it  to  pieces.  On  my  approach,  he  disap¬ 
peared  with  a  part  of  the  fish  in  his  mouth,  which  he  had  torn 
from  his  prey,  leaving  the  back  bone  plainly  exposed  half  its 
length,  and  the  fish  still  alive,  although  high  and  dry  out  of 
water.  That  fox  must  have  been  hungry,  for  I  had  not  gone 
far  from  the  place,  when  I  saw  him  stealthily  retracing  his 
steps  to  finish  his  meal. 

“During  the  summer  of  1838,  we  had  some  very  violent 
thunder  storms  in  Madison.  An  Englishman  named  Warren, 
employed  in  building  the  capitol,  was  killed  by  lightning  near 
our  house.  Another  serious  accident  of  that  summer  was  the 
falling  from  a  scaffold  on  the  capitol,  of  a  man  named  G allard, 
who  broke  his  leg.  These  men  were  boarding  with  us,  and  de¬ 
pendent  upon  us  for  nursing  and  attention  as  well  as  burial. 
Another  boarder,  named  Simons,  was  prostrated  a  long  time 
with  typhoid  fever.  In  those  times  the  duties  of  surgeons, 
physicians,  nurses  and  undertakers,  were  only  a  few  of  the  ex¬ 
tra  duties  which  devolved  upon  the  proprietors  of  public  houses. 

“Jonathan  Butterfield,  of  Topsham,  Vermont,  and  his 
partner  Pinneo,  who  carried  on  a  shingle  factory  toward  the 
Sugar  Bush,  were  the  kind  of  pioneers  it  necessarily  takes  to 
build  up  a  new  country.  They  were  good  workmen,  and  use¬ 
ful  in  their  way,  and  when  on  a  bender,  they  were  the  liveliest 
as  well  as  the  noisiest  boys  in  the  country.  Near  our  house 
stood  a  large  oak  tree,  the  one  under  which  Mr.  Peck’s  family 
had  camped  when  they  first  landed  in  Madison.  This  was  a 
beautiful  tree,  valued  for  its  shade  as  well  as  for  its  beauty  and 
from  association.  Butterfield  knew  how  we  prized  it,  and 
when  strapped ,  and  his  credit  gone,  his  last  resort  was  an  on¬ 
slaught  on  this  old  tree  with  an  axe,  and  the  only  condition  on 
which  he  would  stop  from  damaging  it,  was  to  give  him  an 
order  on  Nelson’s  or  Than’s  grocery.  In  this  manner,  to 
save  the  tree,  we  were  repeatedly  obliged  to  compromise  with 


112 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


him ;  then  Pinneo  came  in  for  his  share  of  the  spoils.  Some  of 
the  old  settlers  of  Madison  will  remember  the  time  when 
Pinneo,  on  a  spree,  without  hat;  shoes,  coat  or  vest,  captured  an 
old  white  horse  which  had  been  turned  out  on  the  common  ~to 
recruit,  mounted  the  animal  bare-backed,  minus  bridle  or  hal¬ 
ter,  in  his  right  hand  holding  extended  the  jawbone  of  some 
defunct  quadruped  (either  horse  or  ox),  and  proclaimed  himself 
Sampson  in  quest  of  the  Philistines,  as  he  dashed  through  the 
most  prominent  streets  of  the  town,  creating  a  decided  sensa¬ 
tion.  There  were  then  no  police  or  constable  to  interfere  with 
any  kind  of  sport  or  amusement  one  chose  to  indulge  in. 

“Another  odd  character  of  those  daj^s  was  Baptiste,  the 
half  breed  Frenchman,  living  with  some  Indians  in  the  adjoin¬ 
ing  woods,  who  had  a  natural  propensity  to  possess  himself  of 
valuable  articles,  such  as  axes,  handsaws,  hammers,  hatchets, 
shovels,  etc.,  almost  any  articles  for  which  we  had  daily  use.  He 
often  came  to  know  if  we  had  lost  anything,  and  if  we  had, 
would  at  once  commence  negotiations  for  the  missing  article. 
His  terms  were  from  one  half  to  two-thirds  of  its  value.  When 
the  contract  was  concluded  to  his  satisfaction,  he  would  imme¬ 
diately  go  to  camp  and  return  with  it,  stating  that  some  had  In¬ 
dian  had  stolen  it.  My  wheelbarrow  was  valuable  as  well  as  very 
useful.  It  was  made  by  a  Milwaukee  cabinet  maker  and  cost 
me  twelve  or  fifteen  dollars.  One  day  it  disappeared.  Bap¬ 
tiste  had  taken  the  precaution  to  ascertain  its  value  before- 
proposing  terms  for  its  surrender.  We  failed  to  agree  on  the 
price  to  be  paid  for  its  restoration,  and  I  never  saw  my  wheel¬ 
barrow  again. 

“  Impelled  by  purely  philanthropic  principles,  we  once  un¬ 
dertook  to  civilize,  Christianize  and  domesticate  a  wild  Winne¬ 
bago  Indian  squaw,  who  answered  to  the  euphonious  name  of 
Lenape.  This  young  squaw  was  about  thirteen  years  old  when 
brought  to  us  in  the  usual  filthy  Indian  costume.  After  the- 
ablution  process  had  been  performed,  and  the  vermin  extri¬ 
cated  from  her  head,  she  was  dressed  in  citizen’s  attire  and 
really  made  an  attractive  figure.  She  was  expected  to  assist  in 
some  domestic  duties,  and  at  first  evinced  quite  a  desire  tcv 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


113 : 


learn,  but  the  charm  lasted  but  a  few  days,  when  she  suddenly  dis¬ 
appeared,  and  when  next  seen  had  donned  her  native  costume,, 
and  returned  to  her  wild,  roving  indolent  habits. 

“  The  Indians  were  very  loth  to  leave  their  old  fishing  and 
hunting  grounds  in  the  vicinity  of  the  lakes,  and  for  several 
years  hovered  around  in  camps  in  the  neighborhood  of  Madi¬ 
son,  and  it  frequently  happened  after  obtaining  liquor,  thah 
they  became  very  noisy  and  troublesome,  particularly  in  their' 
dexterous  mode  of  thieving,  which 4  was  almost  equivalent  t<y 
professional  slight  of  hand  performances. 

“  The  following  good  story  is  told  of  Cal-i-ma-hee,  an  old 
Winnebago  head  chief,  who  was  invited  to  Washington  to  ar¬ 
range  some  matters  between  his  tribe  and  the  Great  Father. 
Cal-i-ma-hee  was  accompanied  by  a  second  chief  named  Shake'. 
During  their  absence  from  Wisconsin  they  had  learned  to  talk 
some  English,  and  had  paid  some  attention  to  the  rules  of  eti¬ 
quette.  When  they  returned  they  were  furnished  with  new 
blankets,  plenty  of  trinkets  and  money  to  pay  their  way  home,, 
also  an  order  from  the  War  Department  on  the  commanding  of¬ 
ficer  at  Fort  Dearborn,  Chicago,  for  two  horses  to  carry  them. 
They  left  Chicago  in' grand  style,  the  old  man  considerably  in¬ 
flated  with  vanity  and  importance  at  the  attention  paid  him, 
and  we  hear  no  more  of  them  until  they  arrive  at  Blue  Mounds, - 
which  place  they  reached  about  ‘noon.  Cal-i-ma-hee  knew 
Brigham,  for  he  was  known  by  everybody  in  the  country,  The 
chief  thought  he  had  found  a  good  opportunity  to  display  the- 
politeness  as  well  as  shrewdness  he  had  learned  from  his  pale 
face  brothers  on  his  recent  tour  to  the  National  Capitol.  Riding 
up  to  the  house  he  accosted  the  old  hero  thus  :  “  How!  Howf 

Brigham.”  Then  dismounting  he  presented  his  man  Shake, 
saying,  “Brigham,  Mr.  Shake;”  “Mr.  Shake,  Brigham/’ 
Pointing  to  the  house,  he  said,  “  Brigham,  dinner;  ”  then  to 
the  stable,  “  Brigham,  horse,  corn.”  “  Big  man,  me.”  Mr. 
Brigham  kept  a  bachelor’s  ranche  and  did  his  own  cooking, 
but  to  expedite  matters  for  his  most  important  guests,  he 
called  in  one  of  his  workmen  to  aid  in  preparing  dinner.  From 
the  manner  in  which  they  devoured  the  victuals  it  was  consul- 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


114 

sered  doubtful  whether  they  had  broken  fast  between  Chicago 
^nd  Blue  Mounds,  a  distance  of  over  two  hundred  miles.  After 
dinner,  Cal-i-ma-hee  called  out,  “Brigham,  horse.”  The 
horses  were  brought,  the  Indians  mounted,  saying,  “  Brigham, 
good  bye,”  and  rode  off  at  full  speed.  Mr.  Brigham,  finding 
himself  badly  sold,  remarked  to  the  bystanders  that  he  thought 
ihey  might  have  paid  him  something  after  putting  him  to  so 
much  trouble,  especially  as  the  chief  had  made  a  display  of  a 
quantity  of  silver  coin  furnished  him  by  the  Government  to 
pay  his  expenses. 

“  For  many  years  the  Winnebagoes  had  made  the  head  of 
the  Fourth  Lake  their  winter  camping  grounds,  from  which  lo¬ 
cality  they  sallied  out  in  small  parties  for  the  purpose  of  fishing 
-and  hunting.  Their  camps  were  distributed  around  on  the 
streams  in  the  vicinity.  Sugar  river  was  one  of  their  favorite 
places  of  resort  for  game. 

“  Mr.  Brigham  relates  the  following  singular  incident  which 
took  place  some  years  before  Madison  was  located.  He  —  Mr. 
Brigham  —  happened  to  be  at  the  camp  at  the  time,  which 
was  situated  on  Sugar  river  crossing,  near  Grand  Springs. 
An  aged  Indian  became  reduced  by  sickness  and  disease.  He 
had  the  consumption  and  was  failing  rapidly.  The  medicine 
man  of  the  camp  had  exhausted  his  best  skill  on  the  patient  in 
vain.  The  chiefs  of  the  tribes  were  summoned  in  consultation. 
The  spirits  were  invoked,  and  an  incantation  held  with  them, 
accompanied  by  singing  and  dancing,  and,  when  concluded,  the 
decision  arrived  at  was,  that  the  sick  man  must  be  removed  to 
the  headquarters  at  Four  Lakes.  The  snow  was  about  a  foot 
deep  at  the  time.  Hunters  were  sent  out  to  kill  a  buck,  which 
they  did,  and  brought  into  camp  next  day.  The  animal  was 
carefully  skinned  by  the  squaws,  and  the  invalid  securely  sewed 
np  in  the  green  buckskin  and  tied  to  the  tail  of  a  stout  pony. 
In  this  manner  he  was  dragged  to  the  Four  Lakes  camp  a  dis¬ 
tance  of  about  twenty  miles.  As  the  narrator  did  not  accom¬ 
pany  this  novel  expedition,  he  was  unable  to  say  whether  the 
.-subject  so  tenderly  cared  for  was  killed  or  cured. 

“  After  a  few  years  the  Indians  were  all  removed  from  the  vi- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


115 


cinity  of  Madisqn,  by  orders  from  the  government,  to  their  res¬ 
ervation  west  of  the  Mississippi,  much  to  the  relief  of  the  citi¬ 
zens,  for  close  contact  with  them  soon  removed  every  spark  of 
the  romance  and  poetry  with  which  they  had  in  our  imagina¬ 
tions  been  surrounded  from  the  reading  of  Cooper’s  novels,  and 
other  like  literature. 

“  As  yet  there  was  little  farming  done  or  produce  raised  in 
Dane,  and  I  was  obliged  to  make  sundry  wagon  trips  to  Green 
county,  to  procure  butter,  beef,  pork,  potatoes  and  other  kinds 
of  vegetables  to  keep  our  house  going.  There  were  then  no 
bridges  on  the  road  to  Monroe,  and  there  was  difficulty  in 
crossing  the  streams.  To  be  ‘stuck’  with  a  loaded  wagon  was 
a  daily  occurrence  in  almost  every  stream  on  the  road.  When 
‘stuck,’  it  generally  became  necessary  to  cany  your  load  out  on 
your  back,  or  with  your  hands  by  piecemeal,  deposit  it  on  the 
further  bank,  then,  with  your  horses  hitched  to  the  end  of  the 
wagon  tongue,  where  they  would  most  likely  get  dry  footing, 
you  unust  wade  into  the  water  waist  deep  with  a  sapling  to 
pry  out  the  wheels:  by  this  means,  with  considerable  language 
more  expressive  than  elegant,  directed  especially  at  your  horses, 
you  reach  dry  ground  and  then  re-load;  but  when  your  stock 
consisted  of  potatoes  and  turnips  in  bulk,  and  you  had  nothing 
but  a  wooden  bucket  at  your  service  with  which  to  transfer 
your  load,  you  can  imagine  the  amount  of  philosophy  it  re¬ 
quired  to  do  this  good  naturedly,  and  more  especially  in  a  wet 
or  rainy  day,  and  the  probabilities  very  strong  that  you  would 
have  to  repeat  the  process  at  the  next  stream. 

“I  shall  always  remember  one  particular  occasion  on  which 
I  was  returning  from  one  of  these  periodical  trips.  After  much 
persuasion,  I  had  induced  my  good  sister,  Mrs.  McFadden,  of 
Grand  Springs,  to  fill  a  patent  pail  with  choice  fresh  butter, 
wTiich  I  carefully  stowed  away  in  the  back  part  of  my  well- 
loaded  wagon.  Any  one  living  in  Madison  at  that  time  may 
possibly  realize  the  value  of  a  bucket  of  nice  dairy  butter. 
The  owner  would  be  envied  by  all  his  neighbors  for  being  the 
fortunate  possessor  of  such  a  prize.  I  drove  along  happy  at 
the  thought  of  being  able  to  cater  to  my  guests  to  the  envy 


116 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


and  jealousy  of  others,  and  enjoying  in  anticipation  the  wel¬ 
come  I  would  receive  on  reaching  home  with  it.  But,  before 
long,  I  experienced  the  sad  truth  of  the  old  rhyme, 

‘  ’Twixt  cup  and  lip  there’s  many  a  slip.’ 

There  were  many  boulders  and  deep  ruts  in  the  road,  the  wagon 
jolted  and  the  bucket  of  butter  rolled  out,  I  driving  carelessly 
on,  unconscious  of  my  loss.  I  had  traveled  some  four  or  five 
miles  before  I  missed  my  treasure.  As  soon  as  I  made  the  dis¬ 
covery  I  unharnessed  one  of  my  horses,  mounted  him  bare¬ 
backed,  and  went  back  at  a  cantering  speed,  and  reached  the 
ill-fated  spot  where  I  had  met  the  sad  misfortune,  just  in  time 
to  scare  off  a  pack  of  wolves  that  had  not  only  devoured  the 
entire  contents  of  the  bucket,  but  had  actually  eaten  the 
greater  part  of  the  bucket  itself,  it  had  become  so  impregnated 
with  the  golden  butter. 

u  We  were  very  much  troubled  for  help  during  the  first  year 
of  our  sojourn  in  Madison.  To  spend  four  or  five  days  in  tra¬ 
versing  Rock  and  Green  counties  in  search  of  a  cook  or  cham¬ 
bermaid,  and  return  without  one,  and  be  compelled  to  turn  in 
and  assist  in  doing  your  own  cooking,  and  make  your  own  bed, 
required  the  cultivation  of  much  patience  and  fortitude,  which 
bordered  on  genuine  heroism. 

u  To  provide  for  the  winter  I  had  a  large  quantity  of  hay  cut 
on  the  marsh  east  of  the  capitol,  between  the  lakes.  The 
grass  was  best  at  the  lower  end  of  the  marsh,  but  the  surface 
was  so  underlaid  with  quicksand,  although  it  would  support  a 
man  it  would  not  an  animal.  After  the  hay  was  made  we 
found  we  could  not  approach  it  either  with  horse  or  ox  teams. 
We  overcame  the  difficulty  by  placing  crates  or  racks  on  two 
long  poles  fastened  together  in  style  of  a  stretcher  or  hand- 
barrow,  and  fastened  clapboards  to  the  bottoms  of  the  boots  of 
the  carriers,  who  could  then  carry  out  large  loads,  and  thus  we 
saved  our  crop. 

u  During  the  summer  of  1838,  a  two-horse  stage  line  was 
put  in  operation  from  Mineral  Point  to  Madison,  owned  by  Col. 
Ab.  Nichols.  The  distance  was  about  fifty  miles,  and  the  only 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


117 


post  offices  on  the  route  were  Dodgeville,  Ridgeway  and  Blue 
Mounds;  the  latter  point  was  made  the  midway  or  half-way 
house,  where  passengers  and  horses  were  fed  on  the  way.  The 
line  was  afterwards  extended  to  Fort  Winnebago,  and  Rowan’s 
made  a  stopping  place  on  the  route.  At  Madison  we  enter¬ 
tained  all  the  stage  passengers  and  most  of  the  drivers.  With 
the  latter  we  always  kept  on  good  terms,  and  were  often  under 
obligations  to  them  for  kind  favors  in  bringing  our  supplies  of 
groceries  and  other  things  from  the  4  Pint,’  or  4  Shake-rag,’  as 
they  called  it. 

44  Tom  Haney  drove  in  the  first  stage  from  the  Point.  He 
kep  this  head  quarters  at  the  ‘  Worser,’  in  which  the  stage  pro¬ 
prietor  was  interested.  Tom  was  a  good  friend  of  ours,  a  hail 
fellow,  exceedingly  obliging  and  accommodating.  He  had  and 
deserved  many  friends.  In  extending  the  stage  line  to  Fort 
Winnebago,  a  span  of  extra  horses  were  required  at  Madison, 
and  it  was  arranged  that  Tom  Haney  should  bring  them 
through  one  at  a  time.  Accordingly  one  extra  horse  was  duly 
entered  on  the  way  bill  with  orders  for  the  proprietors  of  the 
stage  house  in  Madison  to  take  charge  of  the  animal,  and  look 
out  for  another  by  the  next  stage.  Tom  set  out  as  usual  with 
his  stage  load  of  passengers  from  Mineral  Point,  and  the  extra 
horse  lashed  to  the  hind  axle-tree  with  a  stout  windlass  or  well 
rope.  All  went  well  and  smoothly  —  Dodgeville,  Ridgeway 
and  the  Mounds  were  all  left  in  the  distance,  Nine  Mile  Prairie 
was  passed  and  the  woods  entered.  Some  distance  this  side  of 
the  Prairie  there  is  quite  a  descent  from  a  high  rolling  plateau 
down  into  the  valley,  which  is  nearly  on  a  level  with  the 
Lakes.  The  slope  is  not  steep  but  gradual.  The  rains  had 
washed  the  ruts  so  that  it  became  necessary  to  make  another 
track  on  the  hill  side.  These  tracks  diverged  in  the  valley  at 
the  base  of  the  hill  in  the  shape  of  a  letter  V,  and  about  half 
way  up  the  hill  formed  a  junction  similar  to  the  V  reversed  or 
the  letter  A  without  the  bar.  In  the  junction,  or  the  apex  of 
A,  stood  an  oak  tree.  Usually  there  is  nothing  significant  in 
an  oak  tree,  especially  when  the  surrounding  forest  is  com¬ 
posed  of  oak  trees.  They  may  stand  on  either  side  of  the  road 


118 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


or  beween  the  two  roads,  they  are  simply  forest  trees  placed 
where  they  are  by  Providence,  subservient  to  the  use  of  man,, 
but  this  one  placed  at  the  forks  of  this  road  had  its  mission  to 
perform,  as  we  will  soon  see.  Persons  accustomed  to  traveling 
in  stage  coaches  know  that  when  a  the  driver  approach  a  city, 
a  station  or  even  a  postoffice,  they  resort  to  fast  driving.  Tom 
Haney  was  not  behind  his  fellow  Jehus  in  that  line.  Now, 
having  reached  the  brow  of  the  hill,  instead  of  putting  on  the 
brakes  and  driving  down  slowly,  as  careful  drivers  should  have 
done,  he  started  his  team  with  a  yell  and  crack  of  his  whip  and 
came  rattling  down  at  full  speed,  the  stage  taking  the  road  on 
one  side  of  the  tree  and  the  extra  horse  the  road  on  the  other. 
The  rope  brought  the  horse  with  such  sudden  force  against 
the  tree  as  to  break  his  neck.  The  extra  horse  was  not 
receipted  for,  nor  was  the  other  sent  by  the  next  stage.  When 
Haney  reached  Madison  his  feelings  were  something  akin  to 
those  of  your  humble  servant  when  he  found  the  wolves  had 
devoured  his  butter  rolls. 

“Extravagancies  such  as  this,  with  many  other  unforseen 
mishaps  and  direlections  of  drivers,  created  the  necessity  of 
placing  agents  upon  the  route.  The  first  agent,  or  superin¬ 
tendent  rather,  of  this  two  horse  enterprise,  was  Jonathan 
Taylor,  accompanied  by  a  tall,  lean,  lank  Kentuckian,  whom 
he  introduced  as  Micajah  Thacher,  a  new  driver.  We  found 
Thacher  a  most  obliging  fellow,  well  posted  in  horse  flesh,  as 
drivers  generally  are.  Mr.  Taylor  hailed  from  Wabash,  Indi¬ 
ana,  a  noble  specimen  of  a  Hoosier,  remarkably  good  looking 
and  generous  to  a  fault.  Although  somewhat  deficient  in 
education  he  was  possessed  of  good  hard  sense,  and  a  remark¬ 
able  knowledge  of  men  and  the  world.  He  was  very  shrewd 
at  a  trade  and  soon  evinced  fine  business  qualities,  which,  with 
his  kind  heart  and  frank,  open  countenance,  made  him  very 
popular.  He  quartered  with  us  and  an  attachment  for  our 
family  soon  sprung  up,  and  he  remained  with  us  nearly  ten 
years.  After  the  stage  line  passed  from  Uncle  Ab’s  hands,  Mr. 
Taylor  commenced  the  world  with  a  two  horse  team  pur¬ 
chased  on  credit.  He  hauled  goods  from  Chicago  and  Mil- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN.  119 

waukee  to  Madison,  and  in  the  winter  season  brought  sled 
loads  of  Mackinaw  trout  from  Green  Bay,  carried  them  to  the 
Point  and  Galena,  returning  with  articles  needed  at  Madison  r 
Fort  Winnebago,  Fond  du  Lac  and  Green  Bay.  I  have  not 
time  to  follow  his  career,  sufficient  to  say  he  prospered,  and  now 
lives  on  Fifth  Avenue  in  New  York  city  and  counts  his  wealth 
by  hundreds  of  thousands. 

“  Being  desirous  of  adding  something  useful  to  the  Capital 
city  in  the  way  of  domestic  animals,  I  brought  some  fine 
shoats  from  Green  county  —  the  first  brought  to  Madison. 
They  thrived  well  and  increased  rapidly  in  numbers.  When 
autumn  came  and  acorns  were  plenty,  I  turned  them  out  to 
forage  for  themselves.  The  drove  wandered  down  to  the  lake 
shores,  and  when  I  thought  them  in  a  sufficiently  good  con- 
ition  to  kill,  I  undertook  to  drive  them  home,  but  to  my  utter 
astonishment  I  found  them  perfectly  wild;  they  would  neither 
be  led,  driven  or  coralled.  So  hunting  parties  were  made  up 
and  my  beautiful  porkers  were  hunted  down  with  dogs,  shot 
and  captured  as  wild  game,  and  once  more  we  had  to  depend 
on  Green  county  for  supplies  for  the  winter.  Col.  Daniel 
Baxter  furnished  us  a  great  deal  of  acceptable  produce  that 
winter.  * 

“  The  next  season  I  procured  some  pigs  of  a  more  domestic? 
breed,  and  kept  them  penned  close  to  my  house  near  to  the 
old  cabins,  but  in  spite  of  neighbors’  dogs  and  all  tht  care  I 
could  bestow  on  them,  they  were  carried  off  by  the  prairie 
wolves. 

u  The  wolves  continued  to  annoy  the  people  of  Madison  verjr 
greatly  until  we  petitioned  the  county  authorities  to  pass  an 
order  fixing  a  bounty  on  their  scalps.  The  Board  of  Com¬ 
missioners  finally  yielded  to  this  request  and  established  a. 
bounty.  A  wolf  hunter  soon  turned  up  in  the  person  of  W il- 
liam  Lawrence.  He  undertook  to  catch  them  with  steel 
traps,  but  as  4  their  name  was  legion,’  he  found  that  process 
entirely  too  slow  and  resorted  to  poison.  By  a  skillful  dis¬ 
tribution  of  strychnine,  he  succeeded  in  soon  bringing  in  a 
large  number  of  scalps  and  leaving  a  large  number  of  their ' 


120 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


carcasses  on  the  town  site,  and  in  this  manner  a  quietus  was 
placed  upon  their  further  depredations  and  annoyances. 

“  In  the  fall  of  1838,  the  first  session  of  the  Territorial  Legis¬ 
lature  was  held  at  Madison,  and  with  it  came  crowds  of  people. 
The  public  houses  were  literally  crammed  —  shake  downs  were 
Looked  upon  as  a  luxury,  and  lucky  was  the  guest  considered 
whose  good  fortune  it  was  to  rest  his  weary  limbs  on  a  straw 
or  hay  mattress.  We  hired  some  feather  beds  from  Mr.  Nute 
of  Jefferson  county  and  paid  ten  dollars  in  advance  for  the  use 
of  each  during  the  session. 

“  Among  our  boarders  that  winter  I  remember  the  names  of 
the  following  members  of  the  Legislature:  Col.  James  Max¬ 
well  and  0.  Beardsley  of  Walworth  county,  Morgan  L. 
Martin  and  Alex.  J.  Irwin  of  Brown  county.  Then  there 
were  Ben.  C.  Eastman,  Joseph  G.  Knapp,  Peter  B.  Grignon, 
Theodore  Green  of  Green  Bay;  who  officiated  as  clerks,  re¬ 
porters,  etc.,  of  the  Legislature.  Mr.  Knapp  says  these  were 
the  4  aristocracy  of  Wisconsin.1  We  thought  so  too  and 
Treated  them  as  such. 

44  We  had  then  no  theatres  or  any  places  of  amusement, 
and  the  long  winter  evenings  were  spent  in  playing  various 
games  of  cards,  checkers  and  backgammon.  Dancing  was  also 
much  in  vogue.  Col.  Maxwell  was  very  gay,  and  discoursed 
sweet  music  on  the  flute,  and  Ben.  C.  Eastman  was  an  expert 
wiolinist.  They  two  furnished  the  music  for  many  a  French 
four,  cotillon,  Virginia  reel  and  jig,  that  took  place  on  the  pun¬ 
cheon  floors  of  the  old  log  cabins,  that  were  enjoyed,  probably, 
quite  as  much  as  are  now  the  round  dances  and  Germans  on 
the  waxed  floors  of  fashionable  dancing  halls,  to  the  witching 
strains  of  Dodsworth’s  fine  band.  Want  of  ceremony,  fine 
dress,  classic  music  and  other  evidences  of  present  society  life, 
never  deterred  us  from  enjoying  ourselves  those  long  winter 
evenings. 

44  Log  cabins  stand  no  chance  in  competition  with  new  fash¬ 
ionable  hotels — rivals  of  Delmonico’s,  Fifth  Avenue  and  the 
Grand  Central — not  that  patrons  fared  any  better  than  at  the 
cabins,  but  44  the  aristocracy,11  the  unerring  barometer  of  the 


United  States  Court  House. 

Pinckney  Street. 

JONES,  Photo. 


I 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


121 


in  all  countries  and  in  all  places,  soon  gave  convincing  proofs 
.of  the  decline  of  business,  and  that  shakedowns  were  no  more 
necessary  and  puncheon  floors  absolutely  vulgar,  then,  in  our 
anguish  of  soul,  in  the  language  of  Othello,  we  found  our  4  oc¬ 
cupation  gone ;  ’  and  as  we  were  Micawber-like  4  waiting  for 
something  to  turn  up,1  the  mail,  a  much  rarer  visitor  then  than 
now,  brought  us  a  letter  enclosing  an  agreeable  surprise,  which 
was  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  commission  from  Governor 
Dodge,  appointing  me  to  the  office  of  Treasurer  of  the  Terri¬ 
tory  of  Wisconsin.  This  was  done  at  the  instance  of  our  good 
friend  4  Uncle  Ab.,1  of  the  1  Point,1  without  our  knowledge. 
The  salary  was  fixed  at  sixty  dollars  per  annum,  and  no  steal¬ 
ings.  I  accepted,  gave  bonds,  entered  upon  the  duties  of,  and 
continued  acting  as  such  officer,  until  my  bond  mysteriously 
disappeared  from  the  archives  of  the  executive  department. 
By  this  act  of  prestigitation,  I  was  teetotally  cleaned  out  and 
exterminated  from  the  high  and  honorable  position  as  Treas¬ 
urer.  I  have  not  the  slightest  recollection  of  a  single  dollar  of 
money  ever  passing  through  my  hands  as  disbursing  officer  of 
the  Territory,  yet  some  important  financial  paper  transactions 
took  place.  The  issuing  of  the  Baxter  bonds  to  complete  the 
capitol  were  perhaps  as  important  as  any.  These  were  signed 
by  your  humble  servant  as  Treasurer,  and  countersigned  by  N. 
C.  Prektiss  as  Commissioner  of  Public  Buildings.  They  were 
issued  on  fine  paper,  and  passed  current  in  Chicago. 

44  In  the  meantime,  Dane  county  was  organized  according  to 
the  laws  of  the  Territory.  At  the  first  election,  in  1839,  I  was 
put  in  nomination  for  the  office  of  Register  of  Deeds.  We 
had  then  no  party  politics  to  influence  and  control  elections. 
My  competitor,  Darwik  Clark,  was  considered  a  good  man. 
He  came  to  Madison  with  Bird’s  party  of  laborers  to  work  on 
the  capitol,  had  shared  their  hardships,  toiled  with  them,  and 
claimed  their  votes,  whilst  I  had  come  there  with  my  family  to 
reside  as  a  citizen.  I  was  the  candidate  of  the  resident  popula¬ 
tion,  and  was  sustained  by  them.  We  both  ran  on  our  merits 
'and  good  standing  in  the  community.  We  canvassed  the 
county  fairly,  honorably  and  without  the  slightest  attempt  at 
9 


122 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


disparagement  of  each  other.  No  canvass  could  have  been 
more  fairly  or  honorably  made.  After  the  canvassing,  I  re¬ 
ported  to  my  friends  that  I  would  he  elected  by  a  majority  of 
one.  I  was  advised  to  re-canvass,  which  I  did  as  thoroughly  as 
before,  and  arrived  at  the  same  result.  It  was  insisted  that  I 
should  use  means  to  turn  some  of  my  opponent’s  votes  in  my 
favor.  This  I  positively  refused  to  do,  stating  that  I  would 
rather  be  defeated  than  resort  to  anything  underhanded  to  ob¬ 
tain  my  election.  I  was  perfectly  willing  to  risk  my  election 
with  a  plurality  of  a  single  vote.  On  counting  the  votes  after 
the  poll,  I  found  myself  elected  by  a  majority  of  two  votes, 
which  much  surprised  me  and  remained  a  mystery  until  some 
time  after,  when  a  friend  explained  to  me,  after  exacting  a 
promise  of  secrecy  on  my  part,  that  the  extra  vote  was  ob¬ 
tained  by  strategy  to  make  my  election  sure. 

“  Dane  county  is  composed  of  what  was  originally  a  part  of 
the  counties  of  Milwaukee,  Brown  and  Iowa.  The  titles  to 
the  lands  lying  within  these  counties  had  been  recorded  in  the 
original  counties.  Under  an  act  of  the  Territorial  Legislature, 
it  became  my  duty,  as  Register  of  Deeds,  to  have  these  records 
transcribed  for  the  use  of  Dane  county.  In  the  prosecution  of 
these  labors,  I  visited  Milwaukee  and  Green  Bay  on  horseback, 
and  made  arrangement  for  the  transcripts  of  those  portions  of 
the  records  necessary.  In  the  county  of  Iowa  I  did  the  tran¬ 
scribing  myself,  often  working  twelve,  fourteen,  and  sometimes 
sixteen,  hours  a  day.  This  work  was  well  and  satisfactorily 
done.  No  more  than  ordinary  (and  I  think  less),  fees  were 
paid  for  this  work  in  county  scrip,  and  nothing  for  expenses  of 
travel,  so  that  no  money  was  made  by  the  operation.  At  the 
next  election  I  was  nominated  for  reelection,  but  this  time 
more  than  one  vote  was  covered  by  strategy  on  the  other  side, 
and  I  was  defeated  by  a  small  majority. 

“  On  a  beautiful  Sunday  morning,  when  the  religious  com¬ 
munity  of  Madison  were  assembled  in  the  Representative  Hall 
m  the  capitol,  attending  divine  service,  a  servant  came  hastily 
from  the  American  House  to  the  door  of  the  Hall,  and  inquired* 
for  Dr.  Lull,  who  was  called  out  with  Mr.  Fake,  the  landlord 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


123 


of  the  hotel.  On  perceiving  them  hurrying  across  the  park, 
Mr.  Sholes  and  myself,  with  several  others,  followed  and  over¬ 
took  them  as  they  reached  the  house,  where  we  were  informed 
that  Mr.  Dukcomb,  one  of  the*  guests,  had  locked  himself  in 
his  room,  stood  up  before  the  mirror,  and  deliberately  cut  his 
throat  with  a  razor,  the  act  having  been  witnessed  by  a  servant 
in  the  backyard,  through  the  windows,  which  were  open.  We 
were  not  long  in  forcing  the  door  open,  when,  to  our  horror* 
we  saw  this  man  Dukcomb  standing  on  the  floor  with  his 
throat  cut  from  ear  to  ear,  the  bloody  instrument  still  in  his 
hand,  which  was  instantly  wrested  from  him.  Both  main  arte¬ 
ries  and  the  windpipe  had  been  severed.  He  looked  like  a  mad¬ 
man.  The  sight  was  awful.  Mr.  Fake  fainted.  Those  most 
resolute  took  hold  of  the  man  all  covered  with  blood,  which 
was  still  flowing  from  his  throat  and  gashes  in  his  arms,  and 
laid  him  on  the  floor,  where  it  took  the  united  strength  of  four 
men  to  keep  him.  He  could  not  speak,  hut  wrote  with  a  pen¬ 
cil  on  paper,  ‘ all  I  want  is  to  see  my  wife ,’  which  dying  request 
could  not  he  granted.  The  scene  is  as  vivid  in  my  mind  as  if 
it  had  happened  yesterday.  He  had  been  observed  to  act 
strangely  in  the  morning,  and  tried  to  persuade  his  wife  not  to 
go  to  church,  hut  she  feared  to  remain  with  him. 

“  It  was  discovered  that  he  had  cut  the  arteries  of  both  arms 
and  had  written  his  name  on  the  walls  of  his  room  with  his 
finger  dipped  in  his  own  blood,  and  had  broken  open  his  wife’s 
trunk  and  sprinkled  her  clothes  with  it,  and  scattered  them 
over  the  floor.  He  expired  in  about  twenty  minutes  after  we 
entered  the  room.  Jealousy  was  the  only  cause  ever  assigned 
for  the  dreadful  deed,  and  it  was  considered  very  fortunate  his 
wife  had  absented  herself,  or  in  his  frenzy  he  would  probably 
have  murdered  her  also. 

“  Our  good  neighbor,  Mr.  Rasdall,  once  owned  a  valuable 
gray  horse,  hut  from  long  usage  and  old  age,  the  animal 
became  useless,  and  was  turned  out  to  browse;  when  through 
with  life’s  weary  wanderings,  he  had  reached  that  period  so 
graphically  expressed  in  the  song  of  the  departed  soldier: 

*  Old  fellow,  you’ve  played  out  your  time,’  . 


124 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


he  hied  himself  to  the  summit  of  an  elevated  knoll  of 
ground  on  the  Third  Lake  shore,  in  a  southwesterly  direction 
from  our  house,  and  there,  in  full  hearing  of  the  melancholy 
murmurings  of  the  waters,  as  the  waves  rolled  against  the 
shores,  he  laid  himself  down  and  gave  up  the  ghost ;  the  soft 
and  balmy  breezes  from  that  direction,  not  exactly  perfumed 
with  the  rose  or  lavender,  gave  us  timely  warning  thereof. 
Scavengers,  there  were  yet  none,  and  in  the  absence  of  other 
or  better  authorities,  we  engaged  some  boys  to  perform  the  act 
of  cremation  on  this  defunct  quadruped.  Affuneral  pyre  of  dry 
brush  was  built  over  the  subject  and  the  torch  applied,  this 
ended  only  in  smoke;  another,  and  another  fire  of  the  same 
material  caused  a  denser  smoke,  perfumed  with  unambrosial 
odor;  finding  our  first  experiment  at  cremation  proving  a  total 
failure,  we  caused  a  pit  to  be  dug,  and  the  unconsumed  remains 
of  the  horse,  with  the  smouldering  ashes,  to  be  swept  therein 
and  covered  up,  when  the  air  soon  became  purified.  This  spot 
was  for  a  long  time  protected  by  a  flag  staff  and  penant  erected 
there  by  the  boys  of  the  village,  who  also  buried  sundry  favorite 
dogs  and  cats  on  the  same  ground,  always  with  a  procession 
;and  military  honors;  they  called  it  the  hecatombs. 

“  Father  Quaw,  a  very  clever  old  gentleman,  made  his  first 
appearance  in  black,  he  was  the  advance  guard  of  the  clergy  — 
a  Presbyterian,  hailing  from  the  British  Provinces.  After¬ 
wards,  the  highly  esteemed  Bishop  Kemper  visited  Madison, 
and  organized  an  Episcopal  Church  there.  It  will  by  found 
by  the  records  of  that  church,  that  I  was  appointed  a  vestry¬ 
man  of  that  organization.  I  was  also  pressed  into  service 
as  the  leader  of  singing  choirs  at  religious  meetings  of  all 
kinds  and  in  all  places,  and  it  was  understood  that  my  house 
was  open  and  free  to  all  traveling  clergymen,  of  any  and  all 
denominations,  and  there  were  not  a  few  who  availed  them¬ 
selves  of  this  information. 

“  The  foregoing  reminiscences  of  transactions  occurred  dur¬ 
ing  the  second  and  third  years  of  my  residence  in  Wisconsin 
(my  first  year  was  spent  in  Green  county);  most  of  these  scenes 
transpired  more  than  thirty-five  years  since,  whilst  many, 
very  many  others  have  passed  entirely  from  my  memory. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


125 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Dane  County  Affairs,  1840  —  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  un¬ 
der  Rev.  W.  Philo  —  National  Anniversary,  1840  —  Congrega¬ 
tional  Church  Organization  —  Settlers,  1840  —  Rev.  Dr.  A. 
Brunson’s  First  Visit  —  Improvements,  1841  —  Dane  County 
Residents,  1841  —  Schools  —  Killing  of  Hon.  C.  C.  Arndt  — 
Newspapers,  1842-5  —  Visit  of  J.  A.  Brown  and  Dr.  Goodhue  — 
Census,  1843  —  Kentucky  House  —  Madison,  1843  —  Newspapers 
—  Improvements  :  Schools,  1844-5  —  Madison  Lodge  of  Free 
and  Accepted  Masons  —  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  History 
CONTINUED  —  NaRATIVES  OF  R.  W.  LANSING  AND  H.  A.  TENNEY. 

The  year  1840  commenced  under  as  favorable  auspices  as 
could  have  been  expected.  The  attention  of  the  settlers  was 
early  drawn  to  the  necessity  of  public  improvements,  and 
social  and  religious  privileges.  As  will  be  seen,  two  church 
organizations  were  established,  a  select  school  opened  and  also 
a  debating  club.  Madison  was  then  an  isolated  place,  and 
while  the  lands  adjoining  were  rich  and  productive,  there  was 
no  cash  market,  and  produce  hardly  paid  the  expense  of  trans¬ 
portation  to  the  Lake  ports.  There  was  no  scarcity  of  eatables, 
as  fish  and  wild  game  were  abundant,  but  not  much  to  pur¬ 
chase  articles  of  necessary  expenditure. 

On  the  14th  of  January,  1840,  the  County  Commissioners, 
Eben  Peck,  Simeon  Mills  and  Jere.  Lycan,  made  a  report  of 
the  receipts  and  disbursements  of  Dane  county,  from  the  time 
of  its  organization  to  that  date.  As  a  matter  of  interest,  this, 
the  first  report  of  Dane  county  is  given: 

Dr. 

To  amount  paid  out  for  the  survey  and  location  of 

roads,  -  -  -  -  -  -$17700 

To  amount  paid  out  for  books  and  stationery,  -  337  51 

To  amount  paid  out  for  furniture  and  office  rent,  -  190  25 


126 


HIS  TOBY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


To  amount  paid  out  for  printing  blanks  and  adver¬ 
tising,  -  -  -  -  -  67  25 

To  amount  paid  out  on  contract  for  building  jail,  1,239  56 
To  amount  of  expenses  for  October  term  of  district 
court,  elections,  cost  of  assessment,  fees  of  officers, 
bounty  on  wolves,  expenses  of  criminal  prosecu¬ 
tions,  coroner’s  inquests,  etc.,  -  938  17 

Total  expenses  for  the  county,  -  -  - — - 


$2,949  74 


Cr. 

By  amount  of  taxes  paid  into  the  county  treasury 


for  county  purposes,  -  -  -  $2,184  41 

By  amount  of  taxes  for  school  purposes,  -  -  393  13 

By  amount  for  fines,  -  -  ■  -  -  5  00 

By  amount  for  tavern  license,  -  -  -  20  00 

By  amount  for  grocery  license,  .  -  -  100  00 

Balance  due  the  county  treasurer  on  settlement,  55  96 


Total  amount  of  receipts, 

Deduct  the  amount  due  the  Territory, 
Deduct  treasurer’s  fees, 


-  $2,  758  50 

$164  70 
54  02 

-  218  78 

-  2,539  78 


Balance  against  the  county, 


-  $409  96 


In  the  spring  of  this  year,  definite  action  was  taken  for  the 
organization  of  the  Episcopal  church,  the  preliminary  steps 
for  which,  had  been  taken  the  year  before. 

Rev.  Washington  Philo,  a  minister  of  that  church,  on  the 
9th  of  March,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  u  Gospel  Messenger ,”  in 
which  he  gives  an  account  of  the  meeting  held  to  organize  the 
same.  This  valuable  letter  is  as  follows: 

u  To  the  Editor  of  the  Gospel  Messenger: 

“  Madison,  Wis.,  March  9,  1840. 

u  Rev.  Sir:  Whatever  relates  to  the  prosperity  and  exten¬ 
sion  of  our  Zion,  can  never  be  uninteresting  to  devout  and  con¬ 
sistent  churchmen.  I  therefore  send  you  a  brief  extract  of  the 
minutes  of  the  proceedings  of  the  citizens  of  this  town,  con¬ 
vened  at  the  Capitol,  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a  Protest- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


127 


ant  Episcopal  Church,  on  the  8th  inst.  The  Rev.  W.  Philo 
presided:  and  after  the  object  of  the  meeting  was  stated  by 
him,  and  some  few  remarks  made  by  W.  T.  Sterling,  J.  A. 
Noonan  and  others;  on  motion  of  John  Catlin,  Esq.,  Thos. 
W.  Sutherland,  Esq.,  was  chosen  secretary  of  the  meeting. 
The  names  of  the  gentlemen  present,  entitled  to  vote  by  the 
rules  of  the  society  and  disposed  to  act,  were  then  recorded  in 
the  minutes.* 

“  On  motion  of  J.  Catlin,  Esq., 

“  Resolved ,  That  this  meeting  do  now  proceed  to  elect  the 
Wardens  and  Vestrymen  by  ballot. 

u  Whereupon,  the  votes  being  taken  and  counted,  it  appeared 
that  the  following  gentlemen  were  duly  elected : 

“  Warden — John  Catlin,  Esq. 

“  Vestrymen — Hon.  Wi.  B.  Slaughter,  Josi ah  A.  Noonan, 
Mr.  David  Hyer,  Mr.  George  Hyer,  Mr.  P.  W.  Matts,  Hon. 
Ebenezer  Brigham,  Mr.  R.  L.  Ream,  Mr.  Edward  Campbell. 

“  It  was  then  moved,  seconded  and  enacted  that  the  time  of 
service  shall  expire  annually,  hereafter,  upon  Monday  in  Easter 
week. 

u  The  chair  then  proposed,  and  J.  A.  Noonan,  Esq.,  seconded 
the  proposition,  and  the  meeting  enacted,  that  this  society  shal 
be  known  and  designated  as  the  u  Apostolic  Church.” 

u  The  minutes  then  being  signed  by  the  chairman  and  the 
secretary,  the  society  adjourned. 

“  Our  friends  in  the  East  may  see  by  the  above,  and  other 
like  demonstration,  that  their  brethren  in  the  Far  W est  are  not 
idle;  but  are  doing  what  they  can  for  God  and  the  church.  And 
if  we  do  not  exhibit  that  augmented  increase  in  our  numbers 
that  our  brethren  do  in  the  East,  it  is  because  the  Far  West  is 
newer,  the  population  more  sparse,  and  demoralizing  influence 
more  inveterate.  The  church  in  this  station  has  obtained  a 
good  beginning,  for  a  place  so  new,  changing,  and  of  such  a 
diversity  of  religious  opinions.  It  is  not,  I  believe,  quite  three 
years  since  the  first  dwelling  was  erected.  Some  families  re- 

*The  names  of  the  persons  were:  David  Hyer,  John  Catlin,  J.  A. 
Noonan,  P.  W.  Matts  and  Adam  Smith. 


128 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  ARD  THE 


main  in  town  but  a  few  weeks,  and  others  a  few  months,  till 
they  can  conveniently  settle  on  farms  in  the  country.  The  in¬ 
habitants  now  here  are  mostly  from  the  east,  and  have  brought 
with  them  (as  is  generally  the  case),  their  old  religious  notions 
and  prejudices;  and  among  them  are  those  who  belonged  to  as 
many  as  six  different  denominations.  But  there  were,  when  I 
came,  but  two  communicants  of  the  church,  and  but  two  or 
three  others  acquainted  with  our  truly  excellent  liturgy.  It  is 
our  sincere  and  earnest  prayer  to  Almighty  God,  that  He,  of 
His  bountiful  goodness,  would  prosper  these  feeble  beginnings, 
and  further  them  to  his  own  glory,  evangelical  piety  and  per¬ 
manent,  primitive  and  apostolic  principles  and  usages.  W.  P.” 

Mrs.  Henry  Fake  and  Mrs.  David  Hyer  were  church  mem¬ 
bers.  Religious  services  were  held  in  the  old  capitol  building* 
Rev.  W.  Philo  having  been  engaged,  as  stated,  clergyman. 

In  a  number  of  the  Wisconsin  Express  we  find  a  notice  that 
on  Christmas  evening,  1840,  a  donation  party  was  held  at  the 
house  of  Rev.  Mr.  Philo,  the  Episcopal  church  missionary, 
which  was  well  attended,  and  many  presents  bestowed  on  the 
worthy  minister. 

Mr.  Philo  preached  at  Madison  for  about  a  year,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Rev.  Richard  F.  Cadle,  formerly  of  Green  Bay* 
who  supplied  the  church  for  a  time.  The  further  history  of 
this  church  will  be  continued  hereafter. 

The  Fourth  of  July,  says  the  “Express”  passed  off  here  in 
a  very  peaceable  and  quiet  way,  although  attended  with  every" 
demonstration  which  its  recurrence  is  calculated  to  call  forth 
on  the  part  of  a  moral  and  religious,  and  yet  patriotic  people. 
We  had  no  party  political  celebration  —  no  Tippecanoe  gath¬ 
ering —  no  drinking  of  “hard  cider,”  and  “  harder  brandy,” 
which  doubtless  were  the  order  of  the  dajr  in  most  parts  of  our 
country,  but  we  had  a  very  orderly,  and  of  course  very  respect¬ 
able,  little  assembly  of  citizens  at  the  Capitol,  where,  after  re¬ 
ligious  services  by  the  Rev.  W.  Philo,  the  Declaration  of  In¬ 
dependence  was  read  by  T.  W.  Sutherland,  Esq.,  in  a  manner 
highly  creditable  to  himself,  and  a  very  appropriate  and  impres¬ 
sive  oration  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Slingerland. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


129 


Miss  Pierce  advertised,  April  11,  1840,  that  the  second  term 
of  her  school  for  young  misses  would  commence  on  the  first 
Monday  in  May. 

J.  S.  Nicholas,  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  advertised  to  sell  at  auc¬ 
tion,  on  the  4th  of  June,  14,000  acres  of  land  in  Dane  county. 

The  u Madison  Express”  of  July  18,  complains  that  wheat- 
only  brings  fifty  cents  per  bushel,  and  that  it  is  often  dealt  out 
to  hogs  and  cattle  for  want  of  sale.  We  note  that  on  the  4th 
of  September,  Wm.  N.  Seymour  and  Julius  T.  4Clark  had 
formed  a  law  partnership  and  law  agency. 

The  Madison  Lyceum  had  weekly  meetings  for  debate,  during, 
the  year,  and  on  one  occasion,  in  May,  the  subject  was 
whether  it  was  desirable  for  Wisconsin  to  claim  admittance 
into  the  Union  as  a  state,  if  she  obtains  jurisdiction  of  the 
disputed  territory. 

La  Fayette  Kellogg,  Esq.,*  a  well  known  citizen  of  this 
place,  was  appointed  clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Terri¬ 
tory,  on  the  11th  day  of  August,  1850.  Mr.  Kellogg  has  re¬ 
tained  the  same  office,  with  a  short  intermission,  to  the  present- 
time,  1874. 

On  the  4th  of  October,  1840,  nine  persons  united  themselves 
in  an  organization  as  a  Christian  church  in  Madison.  It  was 

*  La  Fayette  Kellogg,  Esq.,  son  of  Rowland  Kellogg  and  his  wife  Sarah 
Titus,  was  born  at  Elizabethtown,  Essex  County,  New  York,  and  was  ed¬ 
ucated  at  the  same  place.  Came  west  in  1838,  and  spent  nearly  a  year  in 
the  lead  mines  at  Mineral  Point,  and  returned  to  Madison  in  the  summer 
of  1839 — held  several  town  and  county  offices  until  August  n,  1840,  when 
he  was  appointed  clerk  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  Territory,  which  office 
he  held  until  the  State  Government  was  organized,  when  from  continued 
ill  health  he  was  obliged  to  give  up  all  kinds  of  business  until  December, 
1851,  when  his  health  having  improved,  he  again  took  charge  of  the  office  as 
Deputy  Clerk,  and  discharged  the  duties  of  the  same  until  the  organiza¬ 
tion  of  the  separate  Supreme  Court  in  June  1853,  when  he  was  again  ap¬ 
pointed  clerk,  and  has  held  that  office  to  the  present  time,  (1874.)  He  was- 
also  elected  chief  clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives  at  its  session  in 
1845,  and  was  re-elected  at  the  session  of  1846,  1847  and  1848,  and  was  al¬ 
so  elected  Secretary  of  the  first  convention  to  frame  a  constitution  for  the' 
then  future  State  of  Wisconsin,  which  constitution  was  rejected  by  a  vote 
of  the  people  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  April,  1847. 


130 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


almost,  if  not  really  the  planting  of  a  church  in  the  wilderness. 
At  the  time  of  its  organization,  there  was  no  other  except  the 
Episcopal,  within  fifty  miles  in  any  direction.  The  church  was 
organized  in  what  was  the  Library  and  Court  Room  of  the  old 
capitol,  under  the  direction  of  Rev.  Elbert  Slingerland,  a  mis¬ 
sionary  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church.  Twelve  communi¬ 
cants  partook  of  the  Sacrament.  In  spirit  it  was  a  Congrega¬ 
tional  church  from  the  first;  but  in  compliance  with  the  wish¬ 
es  of  the  first  pastor,  it  took  the  name  of  the  “  Dutch  Reformed 
Church,”  adopting  it  with  the  provision  that  the  form  and  con¬ 
nection  might  be  changed  when  a  majority  ot  the  members  de¬ 
sired  it.  Besides  the  minister,  there  was  but  one  officer  in  the 
church,  a  ruling  elder,  and  that  office  was  conferred  on  David 
Brigham,  Esq.  Mr.  Slingerland  preached  from  June,  1840, 
to  June  1841.  On  the  13th  of  June,  1841,  in  order  to  connect 
itself  with  the  Presbyterian  and  Congregational  Convention  of 
Wisconsin,  by  an  unanimous  vote  of  all  the  members  then  res¬ 
ident  here,  the  church  adopted  the  name  of  the  Congregational 
Church  in  Madison,  and  resolved  thenceforth  “  to  be  governed 
and  regulated  by  the  established  rules  of  such  churches  as  were 
then  known  in  the  Territory.”  Mr.  David  Brigham  was 
chosen  Deacon  and  Clerk  of  the  Church  under  the  new  arrang- 
ment.  The  following  persons  were  members  at  this  time,  and 
as  all  but  one  of  them  partook  of  the  first  communion  referred 
to,  they  may  be  considered  original  members :  David  Brigham, 
Mrs.  E.  F.  Brigham,  W.  N.  Seymour,  Mrs.  A.  M.  Seymour, 
Mrs.  M.  A.  Morrison,  Mrs.  E.  Wyman,  Mrs.  C.  R.  Pierce, 
Mrs.  A.  Catlin,  Mrs.  Slingerland.  Rev.  J.  M.  Clark,  of 
Kentucky,  then  took  charge  of  the  church,  and  preached  here 
till  July,  1843;  and  w~as  succeeded  by  Rev.  S.  E.  Miner,  of 
New  York,  who  began  preaching  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Home  Missionary  Society;  at  this  time  the  church  had  no  set¬ 
tled  place  of  worship,  and  some  efforts  were  made  to  erect  a 
church  building.  For  a  time,  they  worshipped  in  the  old  cap¬ 
itol,  occupying  alternately  with  two  or  three  other  denomina¬ 
tions.  Then  they  obtained  the  use  of  a  log  house,  the  old 
building  erected  by  Mr.  Eben  Peck,  and  known  as  the  “  first 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


131 


house  built  in  Madison,”  and  met  there  for  some  time.  The 
erection  of  a  new  barn,  sometime  after  seemed  to  offer  such 
superior  and  attractive  accommodations,  that  the  little  church 
made  this  its  temple,  and  “  Christianity  went  hack  to  the  stable 
in  which  it  had  its  origin.”  After  great  effort  and  self  sacri¬ 
fice,  subscriptions  were  received  to  encourage  them  to  build  a 
house  of  worship.  The  building  was  erected  on  lot  10,  block 
108,  on  Webster  street,  and  was  dedicated  in  1846.  P.  H.  Van 
Bergen  was  builder.  It  was  built  of  wood,  with  seats  for  250 
persons,  and  cost  about  $1,800.  In  October,  1846,  Mr.  Miner, 
resigned  his  pastorate.  He  was  succeeded  October  20,  1846,  by 
Rev.  Chas.  Lord,  *  of  Independence,  Missouri,  who  was  in¬ 
stalled  October  20,  1852,  by  advice  of  an  Ecclesiastical  Council, 
and  the  church  became  self-supporting.  Mr.  Lord,  was  pastor 
of  the  church  until  the  spring  of  1854,  when  owing  to  infirm¬ 
ity  of  the  eyes  he  was  obliged  to  resign.  He  was  succeeded  in 
1855,  by  Rev.  N.  H.  Eggleston,  of  Plymouth  church,  Chicago. 

The  further  history  of  this  church  will  be  resumed  hereafter. 

In  connection  with  the  above  history,  the  following  account 
of  the  first  steps  taken  towards  the  organization,  will  be  found 
interesting : 

Rev.  Mr.  Slingerland,  on  the  1st  of  November,  1840,  wrote 
a  letter  to  Rev.  B.  C.  Taylor,  the  Secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Missions  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  which  was  published 
in  the  New  York  Christian  Intelligencer ,  the  organ  of  that  de- 

*  Rev.  Charles  Lord  was  a  son  of  Rev.  Henry  and  Fidelia  (Graves)  Lord 
and  was  born  at  Williamsburg,  Hampshire  county,  Massachuetts,  January 
27,  1816.  He  graduated  at  Amherst  College,  1838;  Andover  Theological 
Seminary,  1842;  ordained  at  Booneville,  Mo.,  October,  1841;  Home  Mis¬ 
sionary  in  Missouri  and  Wisconsin,  eight  years;  installed  at  Madison,  Wis¬ 
consin,  October  20,  1852;  dismissed  May  8,  1854;  installed  over  Second 
Church  Whateley,  Massachusetts,  March  20, 1856;  dismissed  June  14,  i860; 
installed  at  Buckland,  Massachusetts,  i860.  He  married  August  30,  1843, 
Clarissa  Lois  Wright,  daughter  of  Luther  and  Sarah  Wright  of  East  Hamp¬ 
ton,  Massachusetts,  by  whom  he  has  had  three  children;  viz:  Sarah  D., 
born  March  29,  1845,  married  Robert  B.  Hall  of  Brooklyn,  New  York; 
Alice  C.,  born  July  and  died  July  1853,  an<3  Henry  C.,  born  October  14, 
1854.  Rev.  Mr.  Lord  died  at  the  residence  of  his  daughter,  March  28, 
1872,  in  the  57th  year  of  his  age. 


132 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


nomination,  in  which  he  gives  an  account  of  the  organization 
of  the  church  at  Madison,  and  his  ministerial  labors  in  the  ad¬ 
jacent  country,  with  an  interesting  account  of  the  Territory  of 
Wisconsin,  the  state  of  society,  and  the  adaptation  of  the 
country  for  settlement.  His  letter  is  lengthy  —  the  following 
extracts  are  taken  from  it: 

“It  is  with  great  pleasure  that  I  transmit  to  you  an  account 
of  my  mission  since  August  1.  I  feel  deeply  indebted  to  the 
Providence  of  God  for  preserving  both  my  family  and  myself 
in  the  enjoyment  of  health,  which,  of  all  earthly  blessings,  is 
‘Heaven’s  best  gift  to  man.’ 

“  During  this  quarter,  I  have  preached  at  Madison  every  al¬ 
ternate  Sabbath,  and  the  rest  of  the  time  in  the  vicinity.  On 
the  morning  of  the  4th  ult.,  we  consummated  the  organization 
of  a  church  at  this  place,  with  two  male  and  seven  female 
members,  which  number  we  hope  to  enlarge  at  our  next  com¬ 
munion.  I  dispensed,  upon  this  occasion,  the  ordinance  of  the 
Lord’s  Supper,  and  feel  assured  that  all  the  services  were  duly 
appreciated  by  this  infant  church.  Some  professors  from 
abroad,  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  being  present, 
commemorated  with  us  the  death  of  our  common  Lord.  In 
the  evening,  the  ordinance  of  baptism  was  administered  to  an 
infant  of  one  of  our  members. 

“  I  am  happy  to  state  that  we  have  a  good  attendance  upon 
the  Sabbath,  and  also  upon  all  the  appointments  made  in  my 
former  report.  In  the  month  of  August,  during  an  extra  ses¬ 
sion  of  the  Legislature  of  this  Territory,  I  called  a  meeting, 
the  object  of  which  was  to  obtain  a  history  of  the  rise  and 
progress  of  churches  in  different  parts  of  the  Territory.  The 
meeting  was  well  attended,  and  of  great  interest.  It  appeared 
that  many  churches  which  were  formed  of  the  fewest  possible 
materials,  have  grown  into  considerable  influence,  and  are  now 
exerting  themselves  in  the  most  laudable  manner  in  promoting 
the  interests  of  the  Redeemer’s  kingdom.  It  appeared  also 
that  revivals  of  religion  had  been  enjoyed  during  the  past 
year  in  several  places,  particularly  at  Prairie  Village,  near  Mil¬ 
waukee,  at  Racine,  and  at  Platteville,  in  Grant  county. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


133 


“  I  have  twice  visited  Prairie  du  Sac,  a  settlement  beautifully 
located  on  the  borders  of  the  Wisconsin  river,  some  thirty 
miles  northwest  of  Madison.  Besides  preaching  here,  I,  by  a 
special  request,  delivered  a  temperance  address  to  a  very  atten¬ 
tive  audience.  I  am,  however,  uncertain  whether  we  will  be 
able  to  succeed  at  this  place  in  effecting  the  organization  of  a 
church,  as  several  of  the  inhabitants,  being  Presbyterians,  are 
strongly  prejudiced  in  favor  of  this  sister  denomination. 

“I  have  hitherto  continued,  and  design  to  continue  my  ser¬ 
vices  at  Sun  Prairie,  a  settlement  twelve  miles  northeast  from 
this  place.  This  part  of  the  country  is  admirably  adapted  for 
a  dense  population,  and  is  now  growing  rapidly.  The  people 
here  are  very  anxious  to  enjoy  the  preached  gospel;  and,  so  far 
as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  they  constitute  a  moral  popu¬ 
lation.  Several  heads  of  families  are  members  of  different 
churches;  and  how  far  time  may  accomplish  unity  of  feeling 
in  regard  to  their  views  of  religion,  remains  to  be  developed. 

“  It  is  expected  that  in  my  first  reports  I  should  give  a  de¬ 
tailed  account  of  men  and  things  as  I  find  them,  for  the  infor¬ 
mation  of  our  friends  at  the  east.  It  is  due  to  this  community 
to  state  that  intemperance  does  not  prevail  here  to  the  same 
extent  that  it  does  in  New  York;  while  profanity  and  Sabbath 
breaking  are  prevailing  vices  —  at  least-  in  many  places.  *  * 

“I  have  already  received  several  communications  from  my 
friends  at  the  east.  I  expect  many  of  them  will  emigrate  in 
the  spring.  Thus  materials  for  new  organizations  will  be  fur¬ 
nished,  and  as  time  rolls  on,  treasures  of  moral  worth  and  true 
piety  will  enrich  and  gladden  our  land.  I  hope  we  may  have 
your  constant  prayers,  that  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church 
would  make  us  doubly  useful,  not  only  in  promoting  the  ex¬ 
ternal  order  of  the  Church,  but  especially  in  the  conversion  of 
souls.  I  am,  respectfully  yours  in  the  Lord, 

“Elbert  Slingerland.” 

On  the  26th  of  November,  Abner  Nichols  and  J.  George 
advertised  that  they  had  opened  the  Madison  Exchange  on 
Doty’s  corner,  between  the  American  and  Madison  Hotels,  and 
had  purchased  a  splendid  billiard  table,  etc.,  and  that  gentlemen 


134 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


annoyed  by  the  growl  of  the  44  Tiger”  could  find  comfortable 
accommodations  at  the  Exchange,  where  “Uncle  George  ,r 
would  at  all  times  be  in  readiness  to  attend  to  their  wants. 

The  following  persons,  it  is  believed,  came  here  in  1840: 
Edward  Campbell,  Andrus  Viall,  Daniel  Baxter,  J.  A. 

Clark,  E.  Quivey, - Leonard,  George  Hyer,  Chauncey 

Leland,  Daniel  M.  Holt,  Jacob  George,  Elias  J.  Williams,. 
Geo.  Trumbull,  N.  A.  Webb,  Wm.  Hoadly,  E.  S.  Searles,, 
Julius  T.  Clark,  A.  Botkin,  Rev.  Washington  Philo,  John¬ 
son  J.  Starks,  Henry  Gullion,  John  Mallo. 

On  the  26th  of  December,  a  meeting  of  printers  was  called  to 
consider  the  expediency  of  procuring  an  act  of  incorporation  for 
the  Madison  Typographical  Society,  of  which  Geo.  Hyer  was 
Secretary. 

Rev.  Dr.  Alfred  Brunson,  of  Prairie  du  Chien,  writing  of 
his  first  visit  to  Madison  as  a  member  of  the  Legislature  of 
1840-1,  says:  44  At  that  time  there  was  a  wagon  stage  running 
from  the  Capitol  east  and  west  three  times  a  week  in  summer, 
and  on  runners  in  the  winter.  The  one  going  west,  went  by 
Mineral  Point  and  Platteville  to  Galena,  and  of  course  did  not 
reach  Prairie  du  Chien,  the  place  of  my  residence.  Our  only 
means  of  reaching  Madison  was  by  private  or  hired  conveyance. 
In  my  first  visit,  myself  and  several  others  hired  a  sleigh  and 
and  driver.  Lodging  places  were  few  and  far  between,  and  we 
had  to  fix  our  stages  of  day’s  travel  accordingly,  requiring  two 
nights  out  to  make  the  one  hundred  miles.  The  only  houses 
on  the  road  were  log  cabins,  not  very  large,  and  if  the  company 
was  large,  lodgings  were  in  heaps,  and  mostly  on  the  floor. 

44  The  road  we  traveled,  till  within  sixteen  miles  of  Madison,, 
was  the  old  Military  road  leading  from  Fort  Crawford  (Prairie 
du  Chien),  to  Fort  Winnebago  (Portage  City),  on  the  dividing 
ridge  between  the  waters  flowing  into  the  Wisconsin  river  oil 
the  north,  and  those  flowing  south  into  the  Grant,  Platte,  Pe- 
catonica  and  Sugar  rivers.  This  road  was  one  of  the  best  nat- 
ral  roads  I  ever  saw.  After  crossing  the  Wisconsin  we  had  no 
water  to  cross  ten  feet  wide  in  the  whole  distance;  nor  was 
there  a  bridge  or  a  foot  of  dugway  except  between  the 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN.  135 

Wisconsin  and  the  ridge.  The  road  of  course  had  to  wind  in  a 
serpentine  course  to  keep  the  ridge,  and  up  and  down  the  ra¬ 
vines  to  reach  and  descend  from  the  ridge.  Wild  deer  and  other 
game  were  plenty  along  the  road. 

44  The  old  and  first  capitol  was  then  in  use,  and  for  the  time 
was  considerable  of  a  building.  It  served  not  only  for  legisla¬ 
tion,  hut  for  courts,  plays,  shows  and  for  Divine  worship,  there 
being  no  other  place  in  the  town  where  such  assemblages  could 
be  accommodated.  The  dwellings,  stores  and  shops  were  in 
“magnificent  distances,”  so  much  so,  that  pigs  and  poultry 
were  in  little  danger  of  getting  so  mixed  as  to  lose  their  iden¬ 
tity. 

44  I  think  there  were  but  two  hotels  —  the  old  American  and 
the  Madison.  The  American  (afterwards  burned  down),  stood 
on  the  site  of  the  present  44  Park  Savings  Bank.”  It  was  of 
wood,  two  stories  above  the  basement,  with  a  spacious  attic; 
and  such  was  the  crowd  when  the  Legislature  was  in  session, 
that  the  attic  (all  in  one  room),  was  filled  with  beds  on  the  floor 
to  accommodade  lodgers,  and  it  got  the  cognomen  of  the 
44  School  Section.”  The  Madison  Hotel  was  not  so  large,  but 
equally  crowded,  and  besides  these,  every  private  house  that 
possibly  could  accommodate  boarders,  was  filled  to  overflowing. 
The  Territory  was  generally  well  represented  on  such  occasions, 
and  every  one  had  44  an  ax  to  grind.”  I  boarded  at  a  private 
house  near  the  Third  Lake. 

44  The  streets  and  sidewalks  were  not  in  their  present  state  of 
repair,  and  in  soft  weather  locomotion  was  not  a  desirable  ex-< 
ercise.  We  had  some  thaws  that  winter  that  would  do  credit 
to  a  more  southern  and  eastern  climate ;  a  thing  seldom  seen  in 
Wisconsin,  and  the  mud  and  slush  were  such  as  to  call  for  boats 
and  canoes  almost,  to  get  from  one  place  to  another.  A  jocose 
member  of  the  Assembly  offered  an  amendment  to  a  bill  to  pre¬ 
vent  obstructions  in  the  street  leading  from  the  Park  to  the 
Third  Lake,  that  would  prevent  the  fish  from  coming  up  the 
street  to  the  Park. 

44  At  that  time,  being  a  Territory,  Congress  paid  the  expenses 
of  the  government,  and  the  spirit  of  the  majority  of  the  Legis- 


136 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


lature  was  to  create  as  many  offices  as  possible,  so  as  to  give  a 
place  to  partisan  favorites  and  friends  to  pay  them  for  election¬ 
eering,  and  to  secure  their  votes  at  future  elections;  also  to  get 
as  much  money  as  possible  out  of  “  Uncle  Sam,”  to  circulate  in 
the  country.  I  objected  to  this  course,  on  the  ground  of  need¬ 
less  expense,  and  that  it  was  constituting  a  precedent  for  our 
future  State  that  would  be  a  burden  when  we  had  to  foot  the 
bills  ourselves.  But  when  the  vote  was  taken,  I  found  myself 
in  a  slim  minority. 

“  At  the  close  of  the  session,  it  vras  found  that  considerable 
stationery  that  had  been  bought  for  the  use  of  the  Legislature 
at  the  public  expense  was  remaining,  affording  an  opportunity 
for  another  “  steal,”  and  a  motion  was  made  to  distribute  it 
among  the  members.  This  I  also  opposed,  as  being  improper, 
uujust  and  dishonest,  but  I,  with  a  few  others,  were  voted 
down.  It  was  alleged  that  preceding  Legislatures  had  done  so, 
and  that  the  present  one  had  the  same  right;  and  when  my 
share  was  laid  upon  my  desk,  I  objected  to  receiving  it,  but  was 
told  that  it  could  not  be  returned  to  the  secretary’s  office  and 
be  retained  for  another  year,  and  if  it  was  so  returned,  it  would 
be  stolen  before  the  year  rolled  round,  and  that  if  I  did  not 
take  it,  others  would.  This  policy  was  the  beginning  of  that 
system  which  was  afterwards  known  as  the  u  Forty  Thieves,” 
who  ruled  the  Territory  and  the  State  for  years,  on  the  prin¬ 
ciple  “  to  the  victor  belong  the  spoils.” 

u  Bad  as  this  Legislature  was  in  this  and  some  other  respects, 
the  citizens  of  the  place  said  it  was  a  great  improvement  upon 
its  predecessors.  Whether  this  was  a  fact,  or  a  mere  compli¬ 
ment  of  flattery,  I  had  no  means  of  knowing.  The  next  ses¬ 
sion  composed  chiefly  of  the  same  men,  was  like  unto  the 
other. 

Political  hobbies  were  mounted  and  rode  at  John  Gilpin 
speed.  Log  rolling  was  the  order  of  the  day.  You  help  me 
and  I  will  help  you,  was  the  ruling  spirit  of  that  body.  Per¬ 
sonal  or  party  interests  were  the  motive  power  with  a  majority, 
and  but  few  seemed  to  inquire  whether  a  proposed  measure 
was  in  itself  right  or  wrong,  but  whether  it  would  be  for  the 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


137 


interest  of  tlie  party,  himself,  or  his  constituents;  and  the  his¬ 
tory  of  legislation  in  both  the  Territory  and  State  has  not  ex¬ 
hibited  as  much  improvement  in  these  respects  as  is  desirable. 

In  those  times  when  the  Legislature  assembled,  it  seemed  to 
call  together  the  worst  elements  of  society.  Faro  banks,  a 
thing  called  u  the  Tiger,”  and  other  gambling  institutions, 
were  said  to  exist,  and  to  be  run  with  great  boldness,  and  in 
defiance  of  both  moral  and  civil  law,  and  many  poor  wights 
were  said  to  be  stripped  of  all  the  money  they  had.  Bad 
whisky,  in  large  quantities,  was  said  to  be  consumed,  much 
to  the  damage  of  the  consumer.  Lager  beer  had  not  then 
been  inaugurated,  but  other  vile  drinks  equally  detrimental 
were  said  to  be  in  common  use.  There  were,  however,  some 
redeeming  spirits  in  the  place,  both  among  citizens  and  visi¬ 
tors,  and  divine  service  was  kept  up  in  the  capitol  on  .  Sun¬ 
days,  morning  and  evening,  during  the  whole  session  with 
large  attendance,  the  moral  effects  of  which  were  quite  visible. 

We  find  but  little  information  of  the  growth  of  Madison  in 
1841.  The  newspapers  had  but  very  little  to  say  about  local 
matters,  but  their  columns  were  filled  with  articles  on  the 
political  questions  of  the  day.  There  appeared  to  be  more  in¬ 
terest  in  the  merits  and  demerits  of  Gov.  Jas.  Duane  Doty, 
and  Gov.  Henry  Dodge,  than  in  any  other  subject;  both  these 
gentlemen  had  their  admirers  as  well  their  opponents.  This 
state  of  feeling,  unhappily,  existed  for  a  number  of  years. 

From  the  report  of  the  County  Commissioners  for  the  year 
ending  January  14,  1841,  we  learn  the  receipts  were  $2,362.61, 
and  the  disbursements  $1,912.09,  balance  in  hands  of  the  treas¬ 
urer  $450.52,  to  meet  outstanding  orders  of  $409.96.  The  Com¬ 
missioners  were,  E.  Peck,  S.  Mills  and  P.  Brigham. 

The  National  Hotel  was  erected  this  season  on  the  corner  of 
Main  street  and  Washington  avenue  (the  present  site  of  the 
Yilas  House)  by  Zenas  H.  Bird.  It  was  a  two  storj^  framed 
building,  and  was  used  as  a  hotel,  with  a  succession  of  land¬ 
lords,  until  about  1852,  when  it  was  purchased  by  Hon.  E.  B. 
Dean,  Jr.,  and  removed  to  lots  2  and  3,  block  88,  on  Clymer 
street,  where  it  now  stands,  and  is  used  for  a  dwelling  house. 

10 


138 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


Geo.  Hyer,  Esq.,  became  associated  with  C.  C.  Sholes,  in 
the  publication  of  the  Wisconsin  Enquirer  in  the  month  of 
April,  and  was  succeeded  in  February,  1842,  by  J.  Gillett 
Knapp. 

The  National  Anniversary  was  advertised  to  be  celebrated  as 
usual,  the  officers  of  the  day  as  published,  were  David  Brig¬ 
ham,  President,  N.  F.  Hyer  and  A.  A.  Bird,  Vice  Presidents, 
Julius  T.  Clark,  Orator,  Dr.  T.  M.  Wilcox,  Deader,  and  Wm. 
T.  Sterling,  Marshall.  We  do  not  find  any  notice  of  this  cel¬ 
ebration,  and  suppose  it  was  not  much  of  an  affair. 

A  contract  to  bridge  the  Catfish  was  awarded  by  the  Board 
of  County  Commissioners,  to  Thos.  Jackson,  for  $295.50,  which 
was  built  during  the  summer. 

E.  M.  Williamson,  Esq.,  *  one  of  our  prominent  men,  came 
here  in  the  month  of  September. 

The  following  named  persons,  with  others,  were  residents  of 
Madison  and  Dane  county  in  1841,  as  appears  from  their  names 
attached  to  calls  for  political  meetings  in  February  and  June: 
David  Brigham,  Jas.  Morrison,  E.  Brigham,  I.  H.  Palmer, 
Jesse  A.  Clark,  David  Wilder,  Volney  Moore,  S.  Clark, 
T.  &  D.  Brezee,  H.  W.  Potter,  Oston  Cook,  Jacob  George, 
L.  Humphrey,  S.  H.  Taylor,  A.  C.  Dickinson,  W.  M.  Taylor,. 
Nich.  Smith,  J.  T.  Clark,  A.  A.  Bird,  T.  M  Wilcox,  S. 
Mills,  P.  W.  Matts,  E.  Moore,  H.  Clark,  A.  Nichols,  C* 
H.  Bird,  E.  M.  Williamson,  A.  Lull,  W.  W.  Wyman, 
J.  R.  Barnard,  Jas.  O.  Reeve,  Cyrus  Hill,  Geo.  L.  Coates, 
W.  G.  Van  Bergen,  Wm.  N.  Seymour,  John  Catlin,  N.  T. 
Parkinson,  Abel  Rasdall,  W.  T.  Sterling,  John  Stoner, 
Amos  Harris,  Horatio  Catlin,  Wm.  C.  Wells,  C.  C.  Sholes, 

*  E.  M.  Williamson  was  a  native  of  Bedford,  Westchester  county,  New 
York,  and  born  October  19,  1801.  He  came  to  Milwaukee,  March  28,. 
1840,  and  settled  at  Madison,  which  he  still  makes  his  home.  He  has  held 
various  offices  under  the  Territorial  organization;  Deputy  Register  of 
Deeds,  Deputy  Sheriff,  Justice  of  the  Peace,  County  Surveyor  and  Clerk 
of  the  Board  of  County  Commissioners.  Since  1846  he  has  been  engaged 
almost  exclusively  as  Land  Agent. 

Mr.  Williamson  was  married  at  Rochester,  New  York,  October  1,  1850, 
to  Miss  Eliza  A.  Wallace. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


139 


David  Hyer,  B.  Haney,  J.  W.  Thomas,  Chauncey  Leland, 
Jos.  Vroman,  Abel  Dunning,  Darwin  Clark,  G.  P.  Dela- 
plaine,  Adam  Smith,  Edward  Campbell,  N.  F.  Hyer,  P.  B. 
Bird,  Thos.  Daily,  A.  P.  Field,  A.  Botkin. 

On  the  22d  of  December,  1841,  application  was  made  to  David 
Brigham,  Jas.  Morrison  and  Burk  Fairchild,  School  Com¬ 
missioners  for  the  county  of  Dane,  to  set  off  township  7,  of 
range  9  east,  to  be  organized  as  School  District  No.  1.  This 
is  believed  to  be  the  first  action  had  relative  to  th^  organization 
of  schools  under  Territorial  laws,  in  Dane  county;  the  applica¬ 
tion  was  signed  by  Dr.  Almon  Lull,  Ira  W.  Bird,  E.  Quivey,, 
Peter  W.  Matts  and  Nicholas  Smith.  The  commissioners, 
took  the  same  in  consideration,  and  on  the  25th  reported  fav¬ 
orably,  and  set  off  the  territory  described  as  district  No.  1.  On 
January  24,  the  district  petitioned  the  commissioners  to  en¬ 
large  the  district  by  including  town  8,  which  was  attached 
February  15. 

1842.  On  the  11th  of  February,  Hon.  Chas.  C.  P.  Arndt,  a 
member  of  the  Council  from  the  county  of  Brown,  was  killed 
by  Hon.  J.  R.  Vineyard,  a  member  from  Grant  county.  A 
discussion  had  arisen  in  the  Council  on  a  motion  to  reconsider 
a  vote  by  which  the  nomination  of  E.  S.  Baker  as  Sheriff  of 
Grant  county  was  rejected  a  few  days  before.  During  the 
progress  of  the  discussion,  violent  words  passed  between  the 
two  parties.  The  first,  conceiving  himself  to  have  been  in¬ 
sulted,  approached  Mr.  Vineyard,  after  the  adjournment,  for 
the  purpose  of  seeking  an  explanation.  A  slight  rencontre 
then  took  place,  when  the  latter  drew  a  pistol  from  his  pocket 
and  fired.  Mr.  Arndt  reeled  for  a  few  paces,  then  sunk  on  the 
floor,  and  almost  instantly  expired,  having  been  shot  through 
the  heart.  The  funeral  services  were  held  at  the  Council 
Chamber,  and  the  remains  taken  to  Green  Bay  for  interment. 

Mr.  Vineyard  immediately  surrendered  himself  to  the  Sher¬ 
iff,  waived  an  examination,  and  was  committed  to  jail.  After  a 
short  confinement,  he  was  brought  before  the  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Territory  on  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus ,  and  admitted  to  bail. 
He  was  afterwards  indicted  for  manslaughter,  and  was  tried 


140 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


and  acquitted.  Immediately  after  the  homicide,  Vineyard 
sent  his  resignation  to  the  Council,  which  refused  to  receive 
it  or  have  it  read,  and  immediately  expelled  him.  No  occur¬ 
rence  ever  happened  in  the  Territory  that  caused  more  ex¬ 
citement  than  this  event.  Mr.  Vineyard  subsequently  removed 
to  California,  and  has  since  deceased. 

On  the  18th  of  February,  1842,  the  two  houses  of  the  Legis¬ 
lature  elected  John  Y.  Smith  Commissioner  of  Public  Build¬ 
ings.  The  wtfrk  on  the  capitol  was  finished  by  Mr.  Baxter 
the  year  following,  and  the  fence  placed  around  the  square  in 
1842;  the  cedar  posts  having  been  cut  partly  on  the  banks  of 
the  lakes,  and  partly  on  the  Wisconsin  river. 

The  third  newspaper  established  here  was  the  Wisconsin 
Democrat.  It  was  a  six  column  weekly,  and  the  first  number 
was  issued  on  the  18th  of  October,  1842.  J.  Gillett  Knapp 
and  John  Delany,  editors  and  proprietors.  It  was  a  radical 
Democratic  State-Rights  paper.  It  continued  under  those 
persons  until  February  9,  1843,  when  John  P.  Sheldon  and 
George  Hyer  took  possession.  It  was  continued  without  fur¬ 
ther  change  until  March  14,  1844,  when  it  was  suspended.  The 
printing  material  was  afterwards  purchased  and  used  for  print¬ 
ing  the  Argus. 

In  May,  1842,  Jas.  Morrison,  President,  and  Simeon  Mills, 
Secretary,  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Madison  Select  Female 
School,  announced  that  they  had  secured  the  services  of  Mrs. 
Gay  as  teacher. 

In  relation  to  the  business  prospects  of  the  village,  the 
Madison  Express ,  of  September  15,  1842,  has  the  following  no¬ 
tice: 

“  With  the  greatest  pleasure,  we  have  lately  noticed  several 
glowing  descriptions  of  rapid  improvements  going  on  in  neigh¬ 
boring  towns.  We  heartily  rejoice  in  the  prosperity  of  our 
neighbors,  and  should  certainly  envy  not  their  good  fortune, 
even  were  we  totally  disregarded  by  the  inconstant  goddess  in 
the  distribution  of  her  gifts.  Happily,  however,  by  dint  of 
good  fortune  and  the  industry  and  enterprise  of  her  citizens, 
Madison  is  going  ahead.  The  improvements  this  season 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


141 


nearly,  if  not  quite,  equal  all  before.  Facilities  for  the  conve¬ 
nience  and  comfort  of  the  inhabitants,  as  well  as  the  accom¬ 
modation  of  the  public,  are  progressing  daily.  Several  fine 
buildings  have  been  completed,  while  others  for  dwelling 
houses,  shops,  stores  and  various  other  purposes,  are  still  going 
up,  and  will  be  finished  in  the  course  of  the  fall.  The  capitol 
square  is  being  fenced  and  cleared  of  its  rubbish,  which  adds 
much  to  the  appearance  of  the  town.  Notwithstanding  the 
hard  times,  the  improvements  have  been  larger,  and  business 
much  better  than  the  most  sanguine  among  us  anticipated. 
Quite  a  number  of  emigrants  have  settled  around  and  among 
us,  and  our  streets  are  daily  thronged  with  strangers  in  pursuit 
of  business  or  pleasure.  Though  we  cannot  boast  of  as  great 
an  increase  in  population,  wealth  or  improvements  as  the  lake- 
board  towns,  and  many  other  portions  of  the  Territory,  yet  we 
can  assure  them,  one  and  all,  that  we  are  gradually,  steadily 
and  surely  coming  up  in  the  world.  As  it  is  the  transaction  of 
public  business  here  which  fills  our  streets  with  the  greatest 
bustle  and  activity,  everything  is  of  course  comparatively  dor¬ 
mant  during  that  portion  of  the  year  when  neighboring  towns 
are  flowing  with  life  and  business.  But  the  cups  will  soon 
turn,  and  while  the  lake  towns  are  frozen  up  and  idle,  old 
Jack-frost  will  but  increase  our  glee,  and  in  turn  make  1  our 
town’  resound  with  the  tumult  of  business,  not  surpassed  by 
other  parts  of  the  Territory  during  the  most  favorable  .season 
of  the  year.” 

The  appearance  of  Madison  in  the  early  days  of  its  history, 
while  very  beautiful  in  dry  and  pleasant  weather,  was  far  from 
attractive  under  different  circumstances.  C.  C.  Britt,  Esq.,  of 
Portage  City,  has  given  the  following  anecdote  as  an  illustra¬ 
tion: 

“  In  the  year  1842,  or  possibly  1843,  Gen.  Johh  A.  Browk, 
who  afterwards  became  a  well  known  citizen  of  our  state,  and 
his  friend  Dr.  Goodhue,  an  English  gentleman  of  high  culture 
and  skill,  were  residing  at  Rockford,  Ill.  Having  heard  much 
of  the  beauties  and  promise  of  Madison,  they  resolved  to  jour¬ 
ney  thither  and  see  with  their  own  eyes  if  all  they  had  heard 


142 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


was  indeed  true.  Accordingly  on  a  fine,  summer’s  day  they 
started  on  their  tour  of  inspection,  expecting,  of  course,  to  find 
something  akin  to  the  “promised  land.”  Unfortunately  for 
Madison,  and  to  the  chagrin  of  our  tourists,  the  weather  had 
become  rainy  on  their  arrival,  and  the  highways  very  muddy. 
They  sought  shelter  at  the  old  “  American,”  then  kept  by 
“  Uncle  Jimmy  Morrisok,”  as  he  was  familiarly  called  by  every 
one  in  those  days.  The  unpleasant  weather  continued  for  a 
day  or  two,  and  with  slight  intervals  of  sunshine.  All  travel¬ 
ers  have  observed  the  unpleasant  hue  that  a  rainy  day  will 
spread  over  otherwise  pleasing  scenery;  so  with  our  friends. 
But  being  men  of  determined  character,  and  as  they  had  come 
to  see  the  town ,  they  were  not  to  be  thwarted  by  foul  weather; 
so  they  traversed  the  embryo  city  through  streets  and  “  across 
lots.”  In  their  rounds  with  such  unpleasant  sights  as  often 
greet  the  eye  on  a  rainy  day  in  frontier  settlements  —  too  much 
dram  drinking,  and  an  occasional  stupid  fellow  taking  a  drunken 
snooze  in  the  mud  at  the  roadside.  This  was  not  peculiar  to 
Madison  alone,  and  they  knew  it,  but  combined  with  the  mud  and 
the  rain,  and  the  newness  of  the  place  and  its  surroundings  — 
the  lack  of  material  improvements  for  a  capitol  city  even  at 
that  day,  all  tended  to  impress  our  strangers  very  unfavorably, 
and  particularly  the  worthy  Doctor,  accustomed  as  he  had  been 
to  the  refinements  and  comforts  of  his  old  English  home;  and 
as  they  sauntered  along  the  shores  of  Fourth  Lake,  amusing 
themselves  with  casting  pebbles  into  its  bright  waters,  or  skim¬ 
ming  them  on  their  placid  surface  after  the  manner  of  their 
boyhood,  the  Doctor  became  utterly  silent  and  remained  so  for 
some  time,  evidently  pondering  upon  some  weighty  matter.  At 
last  he  turned  suddenly  to  his  companion,  and  with  his  finger 
pointing  threateningly  at  him,  exclaimed  in  words  more  ex¬ 
pressive  than  elegant,  “  Johm  A!  if  you  tell  anybody  that  I  ever 

was  in  Madison  by - I’ll  kill  you !  ”  and  then  strode  rapidly 

to  his  hotel,  accompanied  of  course  with  his  chum.  They  im¬ 
mediately  settled  the  reckoning  with  the  landlord,  and  bade  good 
bye  to  Madison,  and  started  for  home,  perhaps  as  thoroughly 
disgusted  with  the  place  as  it  was  possible  for  men  of  their  ar- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


143 


dent  temperament  to  be.  In  after  years,  Gen.  Brown  would 
mirthfully  relate  this  incident  of  his  first  visit  to  Madison, 
showing  how  unreliable  it  is  to  form  impressions  under  unfa¬ 
vorable  circumstances.1’ 

Mr.  Britt  further  says  he  visited  Madison  some  three  years 
later,  also  in  rainy  weather,  and  he  freely  admits  that  the  ap¬ 
pearance  of  the  place  even  at  that  date  was  not  sufficiently  at¬ 
tractive,  or  its  promise  for  improvement  so  good  as  to  [induce 
him  to  make  a  settlement.  Subsequently  he  moved  here  and 
made  it  his  home  for  a  brief  period.  The  settlement  of  the  town 
was  greatly  retarded,  as  has  been  heretofore  stated,  from  the 
fact  that  all  the  desirable  lots  and  lands  in  Madison  and  the 
country  adjacent  were  owned  by  non-resident  speculators,  and 
could  not  be  purchased  except  at  prices  largely  in  advance  of 
their  true  value. 

John  Y.  Smith,  Esq.,*  a  prominent  citizen,  came  here  in  the 

*John  Y.  Smith,  was  born  in  LeRay,  Jefferson  county,  New  York,  Feb¬ 
ruary  io,  1807.  He  was  left  an  orphan,  without  means,  at  a  very  early  age. 
He  learned  the  trade  of  a  carpenter,  which  he  followed  for  several  years. 
In  1828,  at  the  age  of  21  years,  Mr.  Smith  came  to  Wisconsin,  and  first 
settled  at  Green  Bay.  He  afterwards  resided,  for  a  brief  period,  in- 
Milwaukee,  and  in  the  county  of  Waukesha.  He  came  to  Madison  in 
1839,  as  Commissioner  for  the  Building  of  the  old  Capitol.  Considerable 
of  the  work  upon  that  building  was  executed  with  his  own  hands.  In 
1843,  he  removed  his  family  to  this  place.  In  the  same  year,  the  office  of 
Commissioner  was  abolished,  and  that  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Prop¬ 
erty  established,  and  Mr.  Smith  was  appointed  the  first  incumbent  of  the 
new  office,  which  position  he  filled  till  1846.  In  this  latter  year,  he  built 
a  residence  on  Clymer  street,  in  this  city,  which  he  occupied  till  he  moved 
to  his  farm  some  two  miles  into  the  country,  about  two  years  ago. 

In  April,  1844,  Argus  office  was  purchased  by  Simeon  Mills, 

John  Y.  Smith,  and  Benjamin  Holt.  Mr.  Smith  assumed  the  editorial 
control  of  the  paper,  and  in  his  hands  it  ranked  high  as  an  able  Democrat¬ 
ic  paper.  In  1846,  Major  H.  A.  Tenney  became  associated  with  Mr. 
Smith  in  the  editorial  management  of  the  Argus;  and  that  paper  became 
the  leading  organ  of  that  faction  of  the  Democratic  party,  then  known  as 
“  Old  Hunkers,’’  and  Mr.  Smith  was  recognized  as  the  soundest  and  ablest 
writer  then  in  that  party  in  the  State.  He  remained  in  connection  with 
this  paper,  till  April,  1851,  when  he  retired  from  it.  After  a  few  years, 
the  Argus  was  discontinued  for  a  time,  but  was  revived  in  i860,  and  in 


144 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


winter  of  1841,  from  Green  Bay.  On  February  18,  1842,  be 
was  elected  Commissioner  of  Public  Buildings.  He  brought  his 
family  in  July,  1848,  and  in  1846  erected  his  residence  on  the 
corner  of  Pinckney  and  Clymer  streets. 

N.  W.  &  E.  B.  Dean-,  were  here  in  1842,  and  were  prominent 
merchants  for  many  years,  and  still  continue  residents. 

Miss  L.  A.  Smith  advertised,  June  7,  to  open  a  school  in  Mr, 
Parkinson’s  building.  On  the  12th  of  June  a  public  meeting 
was  called  by  I.  Washington  Bird,  Clerk  of  School  District 
Ho.  1,  to  vote  a  tax  to  build  a  school  house. 

J.  P.  B.  McCabe,  published  in'the  newspapers  a  census  report 
of  the  village  he  had  then  completed;  and  that  there  were,  on 
the  23d  of  June,  199  males,  143  females  —  total,  342;  71  build¬ 
ings,  including  2  brick  buildings  of  three  stories;  4  church 
organizations:  Congregational,  Catholic,  Methodist  and  Pres¬ 
byterian,  with  occasional  services  at  the  capitol ;  2  select  schools, 
11  attorneys,  1  physician,  2  justices  of  the  peace,  5  hotels,  3 
milliners,  1  dressmaker,  17  carpenters  and  joiners,  2  printing 
offices,  3  stores,  2  lumber  dealers,  3  surveyors,  1  livery  stable, 
1  cabinet  maker,  1  saddler,  1  baker,  2  painters,  2  masons,  1 
locksmith,  3  blacksmiths,  2  shoe  shops,  1  wagon  maker,  1 
watchmaker,  1  plaster  and  1  brick  manufacturer. 

The  celebration  on  July  4  was  suitably  observed.  The- 
advertised  programme  was:  E.  Brigham,  President;  J.  G* 
Knapp,  Reader;  J.  T.  Clark,  Poet;  Col.  A.  P.  Field,  Orator,. 
Gideon  Low,  W.  C.  Wells,  Rufus  Brown,  Ed.  Campbell,  J. 
Catlin,  J.  Larkin,  A.  Dunning,  Isaac  H.  Palmer  and  W. 
B.  Slaughter,  Vice  Presidents;  A.  Bird,  Marshal;  S.  Cat¬ 
lin,  Assistant  Marshal.  Col.  Field  not  being  able  to  deliver 
the  oration,  Alex.  L.  Collins  discharged  that  duty.  Toasts 
were  given  by  S.  Mills,  P.  W.  Matts,  D.  Brigham,  J.  T.  Wil¬ 
son,  N.  W.  Dean,  B.  Shackleford,  E.  Brigham,  J.  G.  Knapp, 
J.  Morrison,  Geo.  Vroman,  D.  G.  Adams  and  H.  W.  Potter. 

1861,  Mr.  Smith  again  became  connected  with  it  editorially,  and  continued 
about  a  year,  when  its  publication  was  finally  abandoned.  Since  that  time 
Mr.  Smith  has  had  no  permanent  connection  with  the  editorial  depart¬ 
ment  of  any  paper.  He  died  at  Madison  May  5,  1874,  aged  67  years. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


145 


During  the  year  ending  July  1,  1843,  6,287  acres  of  land 
were  entered  in  Dane  county  by  actual  settlers. 

David  Brigham,  Esq.,  died  at  Madison,  August  16,  1843, 
aged  57  years.  He  was  an  elder  brother  of  Col.  Ebenezer 
Brigham  of  Blue  Mounds,  and  removed  to  this  place  in  1839. 
He  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  university  1810,  was  tutor  in 
Bowdoin  college,  and  subsequently  read  law.  In  1818  became 
established  in  practice  at* Greenfield,  Mass.,  where  he  married  his 
wife  who  is  still  living  at  Madison  with  her  daughter,  Mrs. 
H.  G.  Bliss.  Mr.  Brigham  was  a  member  and  officer  of  the 
Congregational  church,  and  at  his  death  was  the  senior  mem- 
her  of  the  bar.  The  Dane  county  bar,  at  a  meeting  held  on 
the  17th  of  August,  passed  suitable  resolutions  on  his  decease, 
testifying  their  respect  and  regard  for  their  deceased  associate, 
at  which  meeting  Alex.  L.  Collins,  Esq.,  was  Chairman,  and 
L.  F.  Kellogg,  Esq.,  Secretary.  Remarks  were  made  by  Col. 
A.  P.  Field,  Thos.  W.  Sutherland  and  Alex.  Botkin,  Esqrs. 
His  son,  J.  Ripley  Brigham,  Esq.,  resided  at  Madison  until 
1851,  when  he  removed  to  Milwaukee,  where  he  is  an  attorney 
and  counselor. 

The  Kentucky'  House,  subsequently  known  as  the  City 
Hotel,'  was  commenced  in  the  fall  of  1843,  and  completed  in 
1845,  and  was  situated  on  the  corner  of  King  and  Webster 
streets,  on  lot  9  block  107.  It  was  30  by  45  feet  with  an  ell  of 
30  feet  for  dining  room  and  kitchen,  two  stories  high,  and 
would  accommodate  50  or  60  persons.  It  was  built  by  Wil¬ 
liam  M.  Rasdall*  (who  came  in  the  spring  of  1842).  The 

*  William  M.  Rasdall  was  born  in  the  town  of  Bowling  Green,  Warren 
county,  state  of  Kentucky,  on  the  ist  day  of  April,  1819,  and  educated  in 
the  same  town.  His  brother,  Darius  Rasdall,  and  himself  carried  on  the- 
business  of  farming,  and  run  a  grist  mill  together  three  years.  Mr.  Ras¬ 
dall  came  to  Wisconsin  in  1842,  and  took  up  his  residence  in  Madison^ 
where  he  carried  on  the  livery  business  for  about  two  years,  and  com¬ 
menced  building  the  City  Hotel.  He  was  appointed  Deputy  Sheriff  and 
Jailer  of  the  county,  which  offices  he  held  for  four  years,  terminating  in 
1849,  when  he  went  to  California  accompanied  by  a  citizen  of  Madison. 
On  his  arrival  there  he  commenced  the  business  of  mining,  in  which  he 
continued  until  1855,  when  he  returned  to  Madison.  He  carried  on  the- 


U6 


HISTORY  OF  M ADIS  OX  AND  THE 


house  had  a  variety  of  landlords;  a  Mr.  McCord  stayed  a  year 
and  a  half.  He  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Rasdall,  who  con¬ 
tinued  it  till  1849,  when  he  went  to  California.  He  was  fol¬ 
lowed  by  two  Mr.  Ott’s,  by  Messrs.  Penrith,  Dewet,  Carter, 
VanWie  and  Cutter.  On  Mr.  Rasd all’s  return  he  kept  it 
three  years  and  seven  months,  when  he  was  succeeded  by 
Scollans  &  Tiernay.  The  building  was  destroyed  by  fire 
December  14,  1865. 

At  the  election  in  October,  W.  A.  Wheeler,  A.  W.  Dickin¬ 
son,  and  W.  H.  Hubbard,  were  elected  County  Commissioners; 
Steptoe  Catlin,  Clerk  of  Board  of  Supervisors;  Ira  W.  Bird, 
Register  of  Deeds;  G.  P.  Delaplaine,  Collector  and  Peter  W. 
Matts,  Treasurer. 

Rev.  Mr.  Badger,  taught  the  public  school  during  the  year 
1843,  and  was  succeeded  by  Benjamin  Holt,  1843-4. 

A  writer  in  the  Madison  Enquirer,  of  February  26,  1843, 
evidently  a  new-comer,  has  a  long  article  on  the  prospects  of 
the  Territory,  and,  being  of  a  poetical  temperament,  is  quite 
enthusiastic  on  the  present  condition  and  the  future  of  Madison, 
comparing  it  with  what  it  was  in  the  past.  The  following  ex¬ 
tracts  are  made,  which  are  to  be  taken  with  some  degree  of  al¬ 
lowance  : 

“  Where  this  lovely  village  now  stands,  on  the  shores  of  these 
placid  lakes,  not  many  years  since  were  clustered  the  wigwams 
of  the  savage  tribe,  and  the  beaver  and  otter  plunged  and 
.sported  undisturbed  in  the  tranquil  water.  No  sound  at  the 
evening  hour  disturbed  the  solemn  silence  of  the  scene,  save 
the  plaintive  cry  of  the  wish-ton-wish  and  the  long  drawn 
and  wild  cry  of  the  loon  rose  from  the  bosom  of  the  slumber¬ 
ing  wave,  like  the  low  wail  from  the  spirit-land  —  the  solitary 
hunter  leaning  on  his  bow,  wrapped  in  the  contemplation  of 
the  far-ofi*  happy  hunting  grounds  of  his  sires,  bent  his  dark 
eye  from  some  gently  rising  hill  on  the  glorious  and  ever  vary¬ 
ing  hues  of  our  western  summer;  and  as  the  light  and  feathery 

City  Hotel  for  three  years,  and  subsequently  the  Rasdall  House.  Since 
then  he  has  opened  another  building  under  the  same  name  on  Henry 
street,  near  the  Dane  County  Court  House. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


147 


vapors  shone  in  the  golden  rays  from  the  retiring  orb,  and 
stretching  afar  off  in  the  blue  expanse,  varied  their  hues  to  the 
violet,  deep  purple  and  molten  silver  —  fancied  he  heard  the 
voices  of  his  sires  and  the  chieftains  of  other  days  inspiring 
him  to  deeds  of  heroism  and  fame. 

“How  sudden  the  transition  from  such  scenes  as  Cooper 
speaks  of  in  his  narratives  of  the  West,  to  that  of  our  village 
of  Madison,  where  the  clank  of  the  saw-mill,  the  sound  of  the 
blacksmith’s  anvil,  the  noise  ot  the  hammer  and  the  saw  are 
heard  throughout  the  day,  while  the  lofty  capitol,  house  of  en¬ 
tertainment,  and  neat  and  tasteful  private  residences,  exhibit 
all  the  evidences  of  a  place  settled  for  many  years ;  while  the 
merchant,  with  his  well  filled  store,  offers  to  the  inhabitant  all 
the  comforts  and  luxuries  of  the  distant  seaport. 

“  Soon  we  also  shall  have  our  crowded  streets,  thoroughfares 
and  warehouses,  for  the  spirit  is  among  our  inhabitants  to  do 
all  this,  and  in  a  shorter  time  than  our  eastern  neighbors  would 
judge  it  possible.  Already  preparations  have  been  made  for  a 
handsome  brick  hotel  to  be  erected  near  the  public  square,  an 
academy  will  shortly  be  built  on  or  near  the  same  grounds, 
also  of  brick  or  stone;  arrangements  have  been  made  by  the 
Rev.  Martin  Kundig,  of  Milwaukee,  a  Catholic  clergyman  of 
distinction,  and  a  former  resident  of  Detroit,  for  the  erection 
of  a  handsome  church  in  the  centre  of  the  village.  The  en¬ 
ergy  with  which  his  congregation  are  now  at  work  will  soon 
furnish  them  with  a  commodious  and  elegant  place  of  worship. 

“From  our  office  window  we  see  the  high  dome  of  the  capi¬ 
tol  glancing  like  silver  in  the  sun’s  rays,  as  its  bright  metal 
covering  reflects  the  light,  and  the  large  park  of  many  acres, 
encompassed  by  a  neat  painted  paling,  is  tastefully  adorned 
with  clumps  of  the  burr  oak  carefully  trimmed,  while  the  level 
and  well-kept  lawn  is  intersected  with  graveled  walks  leading 
to  the  different  ornamental  gates  of  the  enclosure. 

“  The  capitol  is  a  splendid  building  of  yellow  stone.  The 
hall  is  lofty  and  spacious,  with  wide  corridors,  and  there  is  am¬ 
ple  light  from  the  dome,  which  is  very  similar  to  that  of  the 
New  York  Exchange.  The  chambers  for  the  Legislature  are 


148 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


large,  with  high  ceilings,  and  handsomely  finished,  with  every 
accommodation  for  the  members.  The  offices  of  the  Supreme 
Court  are  in  this  building;  Secretary’s  chamber;  and  the  Pub¬ 
lic  Library,  well  selected,  and  containing  many  thousand  vol¬ 
umes  of  law  and  miscellany.  In  this  building,  the  Rev.  J.  M. 
Clark,  a  minister  of  the  Congregational  Church,  preaches  to 
a  large  and  respectable  audience. 

“  The  capitol  is  not  yet  completed  in  all  its  details,  and  much 
ornamental  work  remains  to  be  done;  but  workmen  are  con¬ 
stantly  employed  on  it,  and,  before  many  months  elapse,  we 
can  show  our  eastern  visitors  something  that  any  village  or 
city  may  well  be  proud  of.” 

The  u  Wisconsin  Argus  ”  was  the  title  of  the  fourth  newspa¬ 
per  issued  at  Madison.  It  was  published  by  Simeon  Mills, 
John  Y.  Smith  and  Benjamin  Holt,  under  the  firm  of  S.  Mills 
&  Co.  The  first  number  appeared  the  22d  of  April,  1844.  Mr. 
Smith  had  the  entire  control  of  the  editorial  department.  It 
was  a  neatly  printed  six  column  weekly,  edited  with  ability, 
and  bore  at  its  mast  head  the  names  of  Polk  and  Dallas.  In 
its  democracy,  at  this  time,  it  was  emphatically  in  favor  of  free 
trade,  a  hard-money  currency,  etc.  In  December,  1846,  H.  A. 
Tenney,  Esq.,  who  had  been  connected  with  the  Jeffersonian , 
at  Galena,  Illinois,  purchased  an  interest  in  the  establishment, 
and  became  a  joint  editor  with  Mr.  Smith  —  S.  Mills  &  Co. 
continuing  as  publishers. 

At  the  election  for  county  officers,  September  26,  1846,  the 
Whig  party  ticket  was  elected,  viz:  I.  Washington  Bird, 
Sheriff;  E.  Brigham,  W.  A.  Webb  and  L.  Sanger,  County 
Commissioners;  G.  T.  Long,  Register  of  Deeds;  Jesse  A.  Clark, 
Clerk  of  Board  of  Supervisors;  N.  W.  Dean,  Coroner;  P. 
W.  Matts,  Treasurer,  and  E.  Burdick  (Dem.),  Surveyor. 
John  Catlin,  who  had  been  Postmaster  since  August  9, 
1837,  resigned  August  20,  1844,  and  David  Holt,  Jr.,  was  ap¬ 
pointed  by  the  President. 

On  the  7th  of  November  the  Wisconsin  Argus  says,  “  our 
town,  the  trade  of  which  two  or  three  years  ago  would  scarcely 
support  a  single  shop  on  a  small  scale,  now  contains  three  es- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


149 


tablishments,  each  doing  a  fair,  living  business.  The  stores  re¬ 
ferred  to  were  Finch  &  Blanchard,  J.  D.  Weston  and  Dean 
&  Co.  Mr.  R.  F.  Wilson,  now  of  Eau  Claire,  who  was  living 
here  in  1844,  says  that  the  wolves  were  abundant  in  and  ad¬ 
joining  the  Capitol  Park.  It  will  be  remembered  that  at  this 
date  the  village  was  only  staked  out,  and  land  marks  difficult  in 
some  places  to  find,  owing  to  the  luxurious  growth  of  hazle- 
brush  and  young  timber,  and  that  firewood  was  so  abundant 
that  any  one  could  procure  his  winter’s  supply  without  leaving 
the  limits  of  the  village,  and  more  frequently  a  short  distance 
from  his  own  residence,  in  the  public  streets. 

The  number  of  pupils  in  the  public  schools  had,  at  this  date, 
1844,  so  largely  increased,  and  the  population  so  augmented 
that  it  was  determined  to  lengthen  the  school  term,  which  had 
heretofore  been  of  three  and  four  months  duration,  and  con¬ 
tinue  the  school  during  the  year.  Accordingly,  in  the  spring 
of  this  year,  Mr.  David  H.  Wright  of  this  city,  took  charge  of 
the  school,  and  continued  it  until  the  spring  of  1845.  The 
school  now  numbered  nearly  one  hundred  pupils,  the  room 
being  filled  to  its  utmost  capacity.  A  novel  contrivance  in  the 
school  room  for  the  purpose  of  relieving  its  crowded  state,  de¬ 
serves  a  passing  notice.  This  consisted  of  a  long  shelf  built 
across  the  end  of  the  room,  and  above  the  door,  to  which  a  lad¬ 
der  at  one  end  gave  access.  This  shelf  was  used  for  “  stowing 
away  ”  the  smaller  boys  and  girls.  To  save  time,  the  teacher 
frequently  caught  the  juveniles  in  hand,  and  by  an  expert  toss, 
deposited  them  in  their  seat  in  “  the  gallery.”  In  the  summer 
of  1845,  Miss  Smedley  taught  one  term  which  finished  the 
course  of  discipline  in  this  building.  In  the  summer  of 
this  year  another  school  house  was  built,  now  known  as  the 
“  Little  Brick,”  on  Butler  street,  near  Washington  avenue. 
This  was  built  of  bricks,  and  divided  by  partition  into  two  rooms 
to  accommodate  two  teachers.  It  was  large  and  commodious 
for  the  time.  A.  A.  Bird  was  the  contractor;  the  house  is  es¬ 
timated  to  have  cost  $1,000.  Jerome  R.  Brigham,  now  of  Mil¬ 
waukee,  was  the  first  teacher,  in  the  fall  of  1845  and  winter 
following,  and  was  succeeded  by  Royal  Buck  who  continued 
two  3rears. 


150 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AlSD  THE 


An  act  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  was  passed  and  ap¬ 
proved,  January  26, 1844,  incorporating  the  Madison  Academy: 
J.  D.  Weston,  David  Irwin,  Simeon  Mills,  A.  A.  Bird,  John 
Gatlin,  A.  L.  Collins,  W.  W.  Wyman,  J.  Y.  Smith  and  J.  G. 
Knapp,  incorporators;  and  on  February  22,  1845,  an  act  was 
approved  appropriating  and  allowing  the  county  of  Dane  the 
sum  of  $2,616,  being  the  amount  expended  by  said  county  in 
the  completion  of  the  capitol,  payable  out  of  any  money  in  the 
Territorial  treasury:  provided,  that  the  said  sum  shall  be  paid 
to  the  Board  of  County  Commissioners  of  said  county,  and 
shall  be  by  them  appropriated  exclusively  for  the  purpose  of 
building  an  academy  in  the  village  of  Madison;  the  Territory, 
by  payment  of  said  sum,  fully  discharged  from  all  liability  for 
the  money  thus  expended.  Out  of  this  amount  the  sum  of 
$400  was  appropriated  to  A.  A.  Bird,  the  contractor.  By  the 
conditions  of  the  act,  a  vote  of  the  citizens  of  Madison  was  re¬ 
quired  to  be  taken  on  the  matter,  subject  to  their  approval. 
The  village  having  voted  in  favor  of  receiving  said  sum,  an 
amendatory  act  was  passed  Februarj^  3,  1846,  authorizing  the 
Madison  Academy  to  receive  from  said  county  of  Dane  the 
amount  referred  to. 

On  the  5th  of  December,  of  this  year  (1845),  a  public  meet¬ 
ing  was  held  to  draft  an  act  of  incorporation  of  the  village,  of 
which  meeting  C.  D.  Finch  was  Chairman,  and  Simeon  Mills 
Secretary.  It  was  resolved  that  S.  Mills,  S.  F.  Blanchard, 
John  Catlin  and  Jas.  Morrison  be  such  committee. 

At  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature  an  act  of  incorpora¬ 
tion  was  passed,  approved  February  3,  1846.  Col.  Alex.  Bot¬ 
kin*  became  a  resident  this  year.  Col.  J.  C.  Fairchild,  a 

*  Col.  Alex.  Botkin,  was  born  in  Kentucky  in  1801.  At  an  early  age  he 
removed  to  Ohio,  and  from  thence  to  Alton,  Ill.,  in  1832.  He  was  a  Jus¬ 
tice  of  the  Peace  at  the  time  of  the  Lovejoy  riots,  and  took  an  active  part 
to  preserve  law  and  order.  He  came  to  Madison,  Wisconsin,  in  1841,  as 
Assistant  Secretary  of  State  under  the  Territory,  and  was  for  awhile  a  law 
partner  of  Col.  Alex.  P.  Field.  Col.  Botkin  was  a  member  of  the  Territo¬ 
rial  Assembly  of  1847  and  1848,  State  Senator  1849,  1850,  and  of  the  As¬ 
sembly  1852.  He  was  a  candidate  for  the  first  Constitutional  Convention 
of  1846,  but  was  defeated  by  Hon.  John  Y.  Smith,  and  was  voted  for  by  the 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


151 


well  known  citizen  (now  deceased),  came  in  1846,  and  soon 
after  erected  a  two-story  brick  building,  corner  of  Wisconsin 
avenue  and  Wilson  street.  This  was  regarded  as  one  of  the 
handsomest  residences  at  the  time  in  the  village. 

A  school  meeting  was  called,  to  be  held  March  22,  1845,  to 
vote  a  tax  for  building  a  school  house,  signed  I.  Washington1 
Bird,  Clerk. 

On  the  24th  of  March,  X.  Jordan,  Secretary  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  publishes  that  the  foundation  of  the  church 
building  would  soon  be  laid,  and  solicits  assistance. 

June  24,  notice  was  given  of  a  Masonic  celebration  of  the  an¬ 
niversary  of  St.  John,  signed  by  A.  A.  Bird,  G.  P.  Delaplaine, 
E.  B.  Dean,  Jr.,  and  B.  Shackleford,  Committee.  The  oration 
was  delivered  by  Rev.  S.  McHugh.  Madison  Lodge  No.  5  was 
organized  by  a  dispensation  from  the  Grand  Master,  June  4, 
1844,  with  the  following  officers :  John  Catlin,  W  M.;  David 
Holt,  S.  W.,  and  A.  Bird,  J.  W.  Martin  G.  VanBergen,  Treas¬ 
urer,  B.  Shackelford,  Secretary,  W.  W.  Steward,  S.  D.,  Da¬ 
vid  Hyer,  Tyler.  From  a  report  to  the  Grand  Lodge  in  1845, 
the  members  composing  the  Lodge  were:  J.  A.  Clark,  E.  B, 
Dean,  W.  N.  Seymour,  A.  M.  Badger,  Alex.  Botkin,  R.  T. 
Davis,  E.  Clewitt,  Wm.  Collins,  S.  F.  Blanchard  and  Daniel 
M.  Holt,  Master  Masons;  Julius  T.  Clark,  G.  P.  Delaplaine, 
Josiah  Harlow,  Fellow  Craft,  and  Ira.  W.  Hull  entered  ap¬ 
prentice. 

On  the  19th  of  December,  1845,  the  Rev.  Stephen  McHugh  ac¬ 
cepted  a  call,  and  immediately  took  measures  for  the  organiza¬ 
tion  of  a  parish  under  the  title  of  “  Grace  Church,  Madison.” 
During  his  ministry,  the  “  Ladies1  Episcopal  Benevolent  Soci¬ 
ety,”  having,  by  their  efforts,  raised  the  sum  of  one  huudred 
and  fifty  dollars,  purchased  the  two  lots  now  owned  and  occu¬ 
pied  by  the  church. 

The  number  of  communicants  was  then  twenty-five;  among 
the  names  of  the  members  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  G.  Knapp,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  A.  L.  Collins,  Mrs.  Nelson  Emmons,  Mrs.  John  Catlin, 

Whigs  in  1849,  for  United  States  senator  against  Hon.  Isaac  P.  Walker. 
He  died  suddenly  at  Sun  Prairie,  March  5,  1857,  aged  56  years. 


152 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


Mrs.  Andrus  Viall,  Mrs.  P.  W.  Matts,  Mrs.  Julius  T.  Clark, 
the  two  Misses  McHugh.  A.  L.  Collins  and  J.  G.  Knapp, 
Wardens,  and  Beriah  Brown,  Vestryman. 

In  the  summer  of  1847,  Rev.  Mr.  McHugh  resigned,  and  on 
the  11th  of  August,  1850,  a  call  was  presented  to  the  Rev.  W. 
H.  Woodward,  of  Pontiac,  Mich.,  who  took  charge  of  the  par¬ 
ish,  September  22,  1850.  On  the  6th  November  of  said  year, 
a  brick  house  was  commenced  on  the  church  lots  intended  for 
a  parsonage,  and  temporarily  as  a  place  of  worship.  On  Christ¬ 
mas  day,  Divine  worship  was  first  held  in  the  building,  and 
communion  administered  to  fourteen  persons.  On  Easter  Mon¬ 
day,  1851,  the  following  persons  were  elected  to  the  vestry:  J. 
H.  Lathrop,  LL.D.,  Senior  Warden,  P.  B.  Kissam,  Junior 
Warden,  C.  Abbott,  N.  S.  Emmons,  Beriah  Brown,  Jacob 
Kniffen,  Vestrymen.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Vestry,  May  7, 
1851,  P.  B.  Kissam,  J.  Catlin  and  N.  S.  Emmons  were  elected 
Delegates  to  the  Convention.  Rev.  Mr.  Woodward  resigned 
the  charge  of  the  parish  November  14,  1851.  No  further  ser¬ 
vices  were  held  till  June  13,  1852,  when  Rev.  Hugh  M.  Thomp¬ 
son  officiated,  and  on  the  25th  of  the  same  month  was  elected 
as  Rector.  Rev.  Mr.  Thompson  subsequently  resigned,  and  the 
Rev.  Henry  P.  Powers  officiated  from  October,  1853,  to  De¬ 
cember,  1854. 

We  are  indebted  to  Robert  W.  Lansing,  Esq.,  of  Blooming 
Grove,  for  the  following  reminiscences  of  early  times: 

“In  the  summer  of  1843,  having  received  the  appointment 
of  Receiver  of  Public  Moneys  at  Mineral  Point,  Wisconsin 
Territory,  I  proceeded  thither,  and,  in  the  first  discharge  of 
my  official  duties,  held  a  public  land  sale  in  the  month  of  Oc¬ 
tober.  I  took  a  steamer 'at  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  and,  after  a  safe  and 
pleasant  trip,  landed  at  the  nice  little  village  of  Milwaukee. 
From  thence,  took  early  stages  via  Watertown,  to  the  embryo 
village  of  the  lakes,  in  the  town  of  Madison,  where  we  spent 
the  Sabbath  in  calling  upon  the  most  notable  men,  among 
whom  was  the  late  Gov.  James  D.  Doty,  one  of  nature’s 
truest  noblemen,  Hon.  Alexander  L.  Collins,  Geo.  B.  Smith, 
Thomas  J.  Sutherland,  J.  G.  Knapp,  Simeon  Mills,  A.  A. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


153 


Bird,  and  many  others  of  the  early  settlers,  some  of  them 
men  of  merit  and  becoming  modesty,  with  a  smart  sprinkling 
of  would-be  limbs  of  the  law,  who  were  then  resident  here,  and 
all  striving,  with  the  small  means  they  then  possessed,  to  make 
Madison  the  grand  point  for  settlement  to  men  of  enterprise 
and  capital. 

“  Madison,  at  this  time,  was  the  veriest  representation  of  a 
wilderness,  which  required  but  the  hand  of  industry  to  cause 
her  to  bud  and  blossom  as  the  rose  in  the  valley.  Arriving  at 
my  destination,  I  settled  down  to  business,  and  in  the  society 
of  a  people,  although  much  feared  and  but  little  loved  at  a  dis¬ 
tance,  whom  I  soon  learned  to  admire  for  their  native  frank¬ 
ness  and  good  feeling,  if  not  for  their  morality  and  good 
breeding.  The  character  of  the  miners  —  being  principally 
Cornish  —  was  not  that  of  a  strictly  mild  and  moral  people, 
still  they  possessed  and  exercised  some  redeeming  qualities, 
among  which,  to  their  praise  be  it  spoken,  was  their  uniform 
attendance,  with  their  families,  at  the  churches  on  Sabbath 
mornings;  although,  in  the  afternoons,  they  employed  them¬ 
selves  in  various  recreations,  but  mainly  in  card  playing  and 
drinking.  While  I  was  living  here,  Dr.  Pulford  and  others 
had  occasion  to  send  east  for  a  rector  to  take  charge  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  and  for  this  purpose  we  sent  an 
invitation  to  a  young  clergyman  in  western  New  York,  who 
lost  no  time  in  answering,  desiring  to  know  which  was  best  — 
to  come  by  steamboat,  or  to  drive  his  horse  and  buggy  up  the 
lakes.  After  every  possible  assurance  that  the  good  character 
of  the  people  would  afford  ample  protection  to  all  new-comers, 
the  reverend  gentleman  came  with  a  friend,  and,  when  near 
the  village  proper,  on  being  informed  that  they  must  pass 
through  a  rather  low  and  dangerous  place  in  the  suburbs, 
called  1 Shake-rag ,’  they  became  seriously  alarmed,  which 
alarm  was  greatly  enhanced  by  the  darkness  of  the  night;  and 
so  they  put  themselves  in  an  attitude  of  defense,  and  having 
primed  and  cocked  their  pistols,  the  one  drove  the  team,  with  a 
pistol  pointed  ahead  in  one  hand,  while  the  other  reversed  his 
position  and  kept  a  sharp  lookout  for  any  invasion  in  the  rear, 
11 


154 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  ARD  THE 


and  in  this  condition  they  at  last  tremulously,  but  safely,  ar¬ 
rived  at  the  domicil  of  the  writer,  more  scared  than  hurt, 'and 
as  free  from  danger  or  harm  as  could  be. 

“Having  received  intelligence  of  the  death  of  one  of  my 
children,  I  left  Mineral  Point  for  the  home  of  my  family,  in 
Ontario  county,  western  New  York,  and  arrived  at  Detroit,  via 
Galena  and  Chicago,  by  stages,  just  in  time,  in  November,  for 
the  last  steamer  to  Buffalo  that  fall,  where  we  landed  safely  af¬ 
ter  a  very  boisterous  and  dangerous  voyage  on  Lake  Erie.  Chi¬ 
cago,  at  this  time,  was  a  mere  sea  of  mud  and  water,  and, 
from  the  only  respectable  hotel  there,  passengers  for  the  east 
had  to  wade  ankle  deep  through  the  street  to  reach  the  steamer, 
then  plying  to  St.  Joe,  in  Michigan,  from  whence  we  staged  it, 
over  logways  and  through  sloughs,  slush  and  rain  to  Marshall, 
where  we  reached  the  first  railway,  and  went  on  our  way  re¬ 
joicing  to  Detroit.  I  entered  my  name  on  the  hotel  register  at- 
Chicago,  adding  my  official  position,  not  dreaming  that  from 
this  simple  circumstance  I  was  to  derive  so  great  a  notoriety  as 
preceded  my  arrival  home.  But  when  I  arrived  at  Canandai¬ 
gua,  where  I  had  many  excellent  and  good  friends,  I  was  not  a 
little  surprised  when  they  congratulated  me  upon  the  fact  of 
my  not  being  an  absconding  public  defaulter,  as  had  been  pub¬ 
lished  by  and  in  the  newspaper  of  the  notorious  Long  John 
Wentworth.  Quite  a  number  of  the  eastern  papers  repub¬ 
lished  the  libel,  and  for  which  they  made  haste  to  make  ample 
amends  by  the  payment  of  money  and  recantations.  The 
United  States  Senate  afterwards  unanimously  confirmed  my 
nomination.  I  returned,  in  the  spring  of  1844,  to  Mineral 
Point,  with  my  family  of  nine  children,  who  are  all  still  livings 
but  one.  From  thence  I  removed  to  Madison,  the  day  before 
Christmas,  1845,  and  opened  the  ‘National  Hotel,1  on  the  site 
of  the  present  Vilas  House,  and  conducted  the  same  on  strictly 
temperance  principles  for  several  years. 

“Having  opened  house  just  before  the  meeting  of  the  Terri¬ 
torial  Legislature,  the  Hon.  E.  V.  Whiton,  who  was  then  a 
member  of  the  Council,  came  to  me  a  stranger  and  selected  a 
room  for  the  session.  I  trust  it  will  not  be  thought  improper 


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155 


for  me,  here  to  state,  that  on  his  coming  to  my  house,  Mr. 
Whitok,  who  was  a  sound  lawyer  and  otherwise  a  most  excel¬ 
lent  man,  took  his  initial  step  in  temperance  reform,  and  from 
which  he  never  afterwards  departed,  thus  proving,  contrary  to 
general  belief,  that  a  sensible  being  can  reform  from  any  evil. 
He  was  subsequently  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  in 
which  eminent  position  he  lived  till  his  death,  deeply  lamented 
and  mourned  by  all  who  had  the  pleasure  of  his  acquaintance.. 
It  was  notorious,  in  these  early  times,  that  very  many  of  the 
leading  men  then  in  the  Territory  were  hale  fellows,  well  met,, 
and  given  not  a  little  to  inebriety,  to  which  habit,  in  general, 
they  adhered  with  hopeless  tenacity;  and  to  our  sincere  regret, 
candor  compels  us  to  sa}^,  that  some  of  our  best  men,  by  this 
indulgence,  were  driven  down  to  a  premature  grave,  and  but 
few  of  this  class  now  remain  as  the  wasted  mementoes  of  the- 
reckless  past. 

44  Madison  was  now  an  incorporated  village,  and  the  facilities 
for  traveling  and  transportation  having  increased,  the  more 
careful  and  intelligent  of  her  people  saw  the  necessity  of  im¬ 
provement,  put  forth  all  of  their  energy  and  enterprise  to  ac¬ 
complish  the  same,  although  seriously  opposed  by  the  older 
settlers,  whose  minds  had  not  j^et  become  susceptible  of  pro¬ 
gressive  impressions  by  reason  of  their  unhallowed  indul¬ 
gences.  The  capitol  presented  the  sorrowful  appearance  of  a 
state  house  under  leaky  circumstances,  the  court  room  of  which 
was  generally  flooded  after  a  rain.  The  Methodists  occupied 
this  room  on  Sundays,  but  the  attendance  was  small,  and  the 
benefits  smaller,  if  anything.  Religion  had  not  yet  got  a  fair 
square  foothold  among  the  sinners,  some  of  whom  were  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  invulnerable  to  good  morals,  and  odious  in  char¬ 
acter. 

44  Besides  the  4  National,1  there  were  two  or  three  other  nota¬ 
ble  hotels.  The  4  Madison,1  kept  for  a  time  by  a  Mr.  Clark, 
and  others.  Another  was  the  4  American  Hotel,1  run  by  the 
inimitable  Jemmy  Morrisok,  of  whom  many  amusing  anec¬ 
dotes  have  been  told.  He  had  a  number  of  good  as  well  as 
some  bad  traits.  He  was  friendly  and  good  to  those  he  loved, 


156 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


but  a  formidable  enemy  to  those  he  disliked.  The  ‘  City  Hotel  ’ 
was  kept  by  the  famous  A.  A.  Bird;  he  was  the  man  who,  it 
was  supposed,  first  saw  the  sun  rise  at  Sun  Prairie,  throwing 
its  luminous  rays  over  the  enchanting  scenery  of  the  embryo 
Madison,  destined  so  soon  to  assume  a  position  worthy  of  its 
location.  He  lived  to  see  the  day  of  its  prosperity,  and  himself 
a  poor  man.  We  could  name  many  persons  and  their  many 
eccentricities,  but  in  doing  so  we  fear  to  do  a  wrong,  of  no 
benefit  at  this  time.  It  must  suffice  to  say,  that  Madison 
could  boast  in  those  days  of  a  large  number  of  inimitable  to¬ 
pers,  and  being  thus  early  baptised  in  liquid  poison,  she  has 
grown  up  with  a  prolific  increase  of  the  seemingly  incurable 
curse. 

“  The  society  at  Madison,  in  an  early  day,  was  of  a  mixed 
kind,  rendered  somewhat  sociable  by  necessity,  as  there  were 
many  quite  dependent  upon  their  fellows  for  the  necessaries  of 
life.  There  were  some,  however,  who  prided  themselves  upon 
being  the  aristocracy  and  elite  of  the  village;  but  they,  like  all 
other  things  of  human  frailty,  soon  found  their  level  in  society 
by  being  driven  to  the  want  of  those  necessities  which  were 
incompatible  with  aristocracy  in  Wisconsin.  The  citizens  were 
quite  pleasant  and  sociable  in  their  intercourse  with  each  other; 
and,  although  many  times  the  necessities  of  life  were  scarce  and 
could  not  be  had,  still  their  wants  were  reasonably  supplied  by 
the  courtesy  and  kindness  of  those  who  possessed  them,  and 
that,  too,  as  a  gratuity,  without  the  hope  of  any  return.  Good 
preaching  was  out  of  the  question,  as  the  people  were  too  poor 
to  induce  talented  men  to  come  hither.  Such  as  we  had,  good 
or  bad,  had  but  little  influence  over  consciences  hardened  by 
the  peculiar  traits  of  a  pioneer’s  life.  Merchandise  and  gro¬ 
ceries  were  purchased  mostly  at  Milwaukee,  and  retailed  at 
Madison  at  enormous  prices.  Farm  productions  of  every  kind 
were  sold  at  ruinous  rates,  averaging  a  bushel  of  wheat  or 
other  grain  for  a  yard  of  calico  or  cotton  goods.  Grists  had  to 
be  taken  to  the  Cambridge  Mills,  twenty  miles  distant,  to  be 
ground.  It  took  a  long  time  to  regulate  trade  so  as  to  be  rea¬ 
sonable  and  acceptable  to  all  concerned.  As  a  whole,  the  peo- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


157 


pie  were  all  that  could  be  reasonabty  expected  from  their  man¬ 
ner  of  life,  the  want  of  moral  and  religious  instruction,  and 
the  depression  of  the  times.  It  was  the  invariable  custom  of 
those  who  came  in  here  at  an  early  day,  to  receive  new-comers 
with  open  hearts  and  outstretched  arms.  They  were  not  only 
made  welcome  in  an  ordinary  sense,  but  were  embraced  and 
loved  as  brethren,  although  entire  strangers  to  each  other,  and 
who,  on  being  thus  kindly  received  and  recognized,  soon  felt 
themselves  at  home,  and  by  perseverance  and  industry,  obtained 
a  foundation  for  future  prosperity.  The  fact  is  patent,  and 
cannot  be  denied,  that  very  many  of  those  of  the  first  settlers 
having  in  their  power  all  of  the  means  to  accumulate  wealth, 
never  saved  enough  to  live  comfortably,  but  died,  as  they  had 
lived,  poor  and  penniless,  a  sad  reminder  of  the  unerring  truth, 
that  1  the  way  of  the  transgressor  is  hard.’ 

“Occasionally,  in  the  course  of  time,  men  of  wealth  and 
means,  with  steady  habits  and  progressive  ideas,  would  come 
and  settle  down  in  our  midst,  and  thus,  by  littles,  the  character 
of  the  people  for  moral  and  intellectual  stability,  grew  and  was 
established  in  the  then  beautiful  village,  so  early  to  become  the 
loveliest  city  of  the  northwest. 

“  At  the  sessions  of  the  Legislatures  there  was  little  of  lob¬ 
bying  done,  because  laws  were  easily  obtained  for  legitimate 
purposes;  legislators  and  constituents,  at  that  time,  not  having 
been  initiated  in  the  art  mobilier  or  the  science  of  stealing 
from  the  public  crib.  Members  and  outsiders  generally  gav 
their  waste  time  up  to  the  indulgence  of  fun,  frolic  and  high- 
cock-arorum!  And  no  people  more  highly  enjoyed  life  than  did 
our  solons  and  their  constituents,  and  but  for  the  native  weak¬ 
ness  of  some  of  them,  but  little  of  an  offensive  character  could 
have  been  justly  charged  against  them.  There  were  many  no¬ 
ble  geniuses  among  the  early  settlers  at  Madison  and  in  its  vi¬ 
cinity,  in  respect  to  whom,  comparatively  with  our  best  citi¬ 
zens  from  other  parts  of  the  Territory,  our  people  bore  an  en¬ 
viable  position,  morally,  civilly  and  intellectually.  They  all 
aimed  their  highest  interests,  individually  and  collectively, 
the  spare  means  they  then  possessed  enabled  them  to  do;  and 


158 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


they  had  a  pride  in  advising  each  other  for  the  best,  as  matters 
and  things  presented  themselves  to  their  judgment. 

“As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  may  be  stated,  that  from  the  least  to 
the  greatest  intelligence  among  its  citizens,  all  looked  with  em¬ 
phatic  assurance  upon  the  certain  prospect  of  Madison  becom¬ 
ing  the  Queen  City  of  Wisconsin;  and,  whose  growing  beauty, 
charming  scenery  and  delightful  surroundings,  were  destined  to 
outvie  any  possible  competition.  Some  have  lived  to  see  the 
day,  when  these  fond  anticipations  have  been  fully  realized,  and 
which  enables  us  now  joyfully  to  refer  to  our  beautiful  Madi¬ 
son,  as  our  lovely  “city  set  upon  a  hill  whose  light  cannot  be 
hid.”  We  have  often  expressed  the  sentiment,  and  we  have 
pleasure  in  repeating  it  right  here,  that  whoever  has  heard  of 
Madison,  its  unsurpassed  beauty,  grandeur  and  enchanting  im¬ 
agery,  and  has  ability  and  means  to  go  there,  should  never  die 
until  he  has  secured  the  sight,  and  enjoyed  the  delights  of  its 
transporting  rapturous  scenes. 

“  There  was  a  number  of  religious  societies  just  fairly  begin¬ 
ning  to  assume  a  position  as  such,  and  amongst  whom  the  ladies 
were  not  wanting  in  their  exertions  to  give  pecuniary  aid  and 
prosperity  to  their  several  denominations,  by  the  institution  of 
sewing  circles  and  fairs  for  the  promotion  of  church  objects,  at 
whose  meetings  the  male  population  were  not  backward  in  their 
attendance;  and,  for  those  times,  were  quite  liberal  in  their 
weekly  donations.  As  in  all  undertakings  and  projects  of  a  be¬ 
nevolent  and  progressive  character,  women  were  the  moving 
and  untiring  co-workers  for  accomplishing  the  objects  of  their 
noblest  desires,  so  the  ladies  of  Madison,  in  the  infancy  of  their 
churches,  labored  and  toiled  with  unremitting  energy  and  per¬ 
severance,  until  their  accumulations  gave  not  only  a  foundation, 
but  also,  in  some  instances,  a  beautiful  superstructure  for  their 
several  congregations  to  worship  in.  We  should  give  all  honor 
and  praise  to  these  large-hearted  and  noble  women,  for  their 
kind  hearted  and  generous  devotion ;  and  but  for  whose  love  to 
God  and  good  will  to  man,  these  consecrated  structures  would 
not  now  probably  be  pointing  their  spires  and  drawing  the  hearts 
of  mankind  up  towards  the  “  house  not  made  with  hands,  eter- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


159 


nal  in  the  heavens.”  It  should  be  a  matter  of  sincere  joy  with 
those  now  living,  that  God  has  been  graciously  pleased  to  thus 
44  give  unto  these  noble  daughters  of  the  church,  abundantly  of 
the  fruit  of  their  hands.” 

44  In  1845,  Madison  began  to  improve  rapidly,  and  particular¬ 
ly  so  under  the  large  management  and  ceaseless  labors  and  im¬ 
provement  of  ex- Gov.  Leonard  J.  Far  well.  The  times  then 
seemed  to  be  favorable  for  large  and  continuous  improvements; 
but,  as  in  1836,  in  other  sections  of  our  country,  when  fortunes 
were  made  in  a  day,  and  lost  as  soon,  by  the  immediate  and  un¬ 
expected  revulsion  of  the  times,  so  Madison,  in  its  highest, 
hopeful  assurance  of  continued  prosperity,  became  checked  in 
growth,  by  the  sudden  change  of  the  times,  and  the  sad  reverses 
of  fortune  of  her  noblest  and  best  friend.  This  check  to  its  ad¬ 
vancement  continued  to  bear  with  severity  upon  the  city  of  our 
delights  for  a  number  of  years;  but,  as  all  things  terrestrial 
have  their  day  of  trial,  if  not  of  affliction,  and  finally  rise  supe¬ 
rior  to  all  vicissitudes  and  emergencies,  so  Madison  has  emerged 
from  the  hazard  of  her  once  unfortunate  condition,  and  risen 
majestically  above  all  her  fears  and  the  frowns  of  her  enemies, 
eo  that  she  has  become,  simply  by  right  of  her  exalted  position, 
u  Monarch  of  all  she  surveys.” 

Maj.  H.  A.  Teiwey  writes: 

44  Early  in  June,  1845,  after  a  boisterous  trip  upon  the  lakes, 
I  landed  at  Milwaukee,  then  of  more  pretensions  than  propor¬ 
tions.  It  was  a  long,  straggling  village,  almost  wholly  confined 
to  the  east  side  of  the  river.  The  low  bottom  on  the  west  side, 
was  in  the  main  a  mere  swamp  densely  overgrown  with  tamar¬ 
ack.  The  houses,  such  as  they  were,  may  have  numbered  one 
or  two  hundred.  Except  a  road  laid  out  by  way  of  Kilbourn- 
town,  there  was  no  means  of  access  to  the  interior.  The  steamer 
landed  at  44  Higby’s  Pier,  carried  far  out  into  the  bay.  If  the 
then  mouth  of  the  river  was  accessible  to  shipping,  it  was  not 
-often  used.  The  place  even  then,  in  the  intelligence,  zeal  and 
activity  of  its  population,  foreshadowed  the  modern  city;  but 
rsuch  elements  as  railroads,  telegraphs,  etc.,  of  course  entered 
into  the  calculation  of  no  one. 


160 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


w  Stages  at  that  time  left  for  Madison  twice  a  week,  and  be¬ 
yond,  once  a  week.  The  route  ran  round  by  way  of  Prairie- 
ville,  Johnstown  and  Janesville,  to  avoid  the  dreaded  “Rock 
river  woods,”  the  road  through  which  was  the  terror  of  the 
early  settlers. 

“  I  reached  the  place  about  two  hours  after  the  semi-weekly 
stage  had  left,  and  not  relishing  the  idea  of  waiting  four  days,  I 
secured  a  horse  from  Moore  &  Co.  (as  I  now  remember  the  firm), 
and  started  on  the  shortest  route  for  Madison  at  noon.  After 
passing  through  an  almost  unbroken  forest  with  scarce  a  house, 
at  dark  I  stopped  at  what  is  now  Summit,  consisting  of  a 
wretched  tavern,  blacksmith  shop  and  one  or  two  farm  houses. 
Roughing  in  the  wilderness  was  not  entirely  new  to  me,  hav¬ 
ing  came  from  the  forest  region  of  Northern  Ohio,  but  not 
liking  the  extremely  primitive  accommodations,  I  started  very 
early  next  morning,  supposing  that  of  course  houses  would  be 
found  all  along  the  way.  It  was  near  noon  before  I  came  upon 
a  house  where  breakfast  could  be  procured,  but  as  there  was  no 
name  to  the  place,  I  am  unable  to  name  the  point.  Going  on, 
I  passed  into  what  to  me  was  a  marvel  from  its  resemblance  to 
the  orchards  of  my  boyhood,  to  oak  openings  —  and  finally  out 
upon  the  prairies,  even  a  greater  curiosity.  The  illusions  of 
the  route  everywhere  surprised  me.  Looking  about  at  the  mag¬ 
nificent  groves  and  cleared  places,  I  expected  every  moment  to 
come  out  upon  farms  and  villages,  only  to  be  disappointed.  In¬ 
deed  houses  at  that  time  scarce  numbered  more  than  one  to 
twenty  miles,  and  the  road  was  a  mere  blind  path,  which  at 
times  if  was  difficult  to  follow,  while  an  endless  vista  and  sol¬ 
emn  silence,  was  to  me  a  new  and  wonderful  experience.  I 
reached  Beecher’s  old  place  in  Cottage  Grove  about  6  P.  M., 
and  about  7,  from  the  high  grounds  about  four  miles  distant, 
obtained  my  first  view  of  Madison  and  the  Four  Lake  country. 

u  The  spectacle  was  a  vision  so  glorious,  that  it  painted  itself 
on  my  memory  with  a  vividness  that  has  never  left  it.  Just 
previous  to  reaching  the  elevation  I  had  been  overtaken  by  a 
gentleman  also  bound  for  Madison,  and  when  we  reached  the 
summit,  both  stopped  our  horses  in  involuntary  surprise.  F our 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


161 


Lakes  lay  spread  out  before  us,  brought  out  in  strong  relief  by 
the  declining  sun  just  sinking  in  the  west,  shining  like  bur¬ 
nished  mirrors.  On  all  sides  forest  and  prairie  swept  down  in 
lines  and  patches  unobstructed  to  their  shores.  Except  the 
village,  magnified  a  thousand  fold  as  a  central  figure,  there  was 
no  break  in  the  scene  —  not  a  mark  of  human  improvement. 
As  this  line  of  white  beach  sand  glowing  in  the  sunset  stood  in 
contrast  with  the  dark,  green  foliage  that  encompassed  it, 
while  plain  and  level,  precipice  and  peninsula,  bay  and  gulf, 
were  clothed  in  a  brilliancy  of  outline,  and  a  beauty  beyond  the 
power  of  description.  Half  an  hour  of  twilight  passed  before 
our  interest  in  the  golden  vision  was  satisfied.  Madison  seemed 
to  be  about  two  miles  away.  Our  jaded  horses  and  tired  bodies 
did  not  allow  of  rapid  movements,  and  we  supposed  half  an  hour 
would  land  us  at  a  hotel.  But  darkness  deepened  over  the 
scene.  Hours  passed  —  we  concluded  we  must  be  lost  —  until 
finally  we  saw  a  light,  and  about  10  o’clock  learned  that  we 
were  actually  in  Madison.  We  stopped  at  the  Madison  House, 
then  chief  hotel  for  stage  passengers.  Col.  A.  A.  Bird  seemed 
to  be  the  presiding  genius  of  the  concern. 

“In  the  morning,  after  breakfast,  great  was  my  surprise  to 
find  the  hotel  in  the  midst  of  an  almost  unbroken  forest.  Al¬ 
though  a  main  street,  it  had  but  five  or  six  houses  in  its  whole 
length.  The  road  —  King  street  —  was  as  yet  covered  with  an 
almost  unbroken  sod,  filled  with  stumps  of  trees,  cut  out-  only 
in  the  center,  while  walks  were  unknown,  and  their  site  cov¬ 
ered  with  a  dense  undergrowth.  This  description  is  true  of 
every  street  on  the  site  that  any  attempt  had  been  made  to  open. 
Indeed,  except  three  country  roads  crossing  the  plot  there 
were  no  improvements  of  any  kind.  The  capitol  park  had  not 
been  undergrowthed  —  its  fences  were  carried  through  a  dense 
thicket,  and  the  southwest  and  northwest  sides  of  the  square 
were  still  almost  unbroken  forest,  almost  impassable. 

“  I  remained  four  days  in  the  place.  Met  J.  A.  Hookah, 
Esq.,  who  introduced  me  so  all  the  Territorial  officials  —  then 
Gov.  Hodge,  J/B.  Floyd,  Secretary,  Judges  Duhh,  Irvih  and 
Miller,  and  others.  While  there  heard  Sam  Crawford’s 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


162 

maiden  plea.  I  made  long  walks  around  the  then  beautiful 
beaches  of  the  lakes.  The  shore  line  was  nowhere  broken  by  an 
improvement,  nor  was  the  house  of  a  settler  anywhere  visible. 
Everything  almost  was  in  a  state  of  nature,  and  the  foliage  so 
dense  that,  except  the  old  capitol,  it  was  rare  a  building  was 
visible. 

u  When  I  first  visited  Madison  in  1845,  it  was  an  insignificant 
hamlet  standing  in  a  dense  forest  thicket,  without  streets,  av¬ 
enues,  walks  or  improvements  of  any  kind:  too  obscure  coun* 
try  roads  excepted.  There  was  not  a  mark  of  man’s  presence 
upon  any  of  its  surroundings.  Prairies  and  groves  came  down 
to  the  lakes,  as  yet  unbroken.  There  was  neither  mill  nor  fac¬ 
tory,  nor  indeed  a  strictly  industrial  pursuit  of  any  kind.  Gen¬ 
erally  the  whole  region  may  be  described  as  a  magnificent  and 
fertile  waste. 

u  After  a  few  days  I  went  on  to  Galena,  and  arranged  to  set¬ 
tle  at  that  point.  In  September,  I  returned  from  Ohio,  where 
I  then  lived,  and  later  commenced  the  publication  of  the  “  Ga¬ 
lena  Jeffersonian ,”  among  the  lead  diggers.  The  incidents  and 
curious  experiences  of  my  stay  there  would  fill  a  volume.  It 
was  a  period  when  three  quarters  of  the  whole  western  popula¬ 
tion  were  sick  annually  for  months.  I  of  course  took  the  ague, 
and  fearing  I  could  not  get  rid  of  it  while  living  on  the  Missis¬ 
sippi,  gave  up  my  office,  and  removed  with  my  family  to  Madi¬ 
son  in  November  of  the  next  year,  where  I  have  ever  since  kept 
my  home.  It  was  not  until  1855  that  I  was  able  to  shake  off 
the  chills. 

“  There  was  so  much  and  yet  so  little  of  importance  in  the 
early  settlement,  that  it  might  be  comprehended  in  a  sentence, 
or  swelled  to  a  volume.  One  scarce  knows  what  to  say  when 
so  much  may  be  said,  and  yet  so  little  to  the  purpose. 

“  Madison  was  a  hamlet  —  the  country  a  wild  waste.  Popu¬ 
lation  had  but  barely  discovered  it.  There  were  three  voting 
precincts  —  Blue  Mounds,  Madison  and  Albion.  The  town  of 
Madison  covered  twenty-four  townships  then  without  name. 
The  balance  of  the  county  was  divided  between  the  other  two. 
There  was  but  one  German  settler,  X.  Jordan,  and  three  Irish 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


163 


—  Thomas  and  Mathew  Duxx  and  Peter  Kavanaugh.  It 
took  four  counties  to  make  an  Assembly  District  —  Dane,  Co¬ 
lumbia,  Sauk  and  Green,  and  all  the  territory  between  the  south 
line  of  the  state  in  its  central  part  to  Lake  Superior,  for  a 
Council  district.  Many  years  elapsed  before  towns  received 
names. 

u  Game  was  profusely  abundant.  I  repeatedly  shot  prairie 
chickens  on  the  capitol  square,  and  the  hunting  of  quail  there 
was  common.  The  last  deer  killed  within  the  site  was  in  1847 

—  an  old  buck  whose  way  was  over  the  University  hill.  He  was 
so  sagacious  that  he  was  not  taken  until  hunted  at  times  for 
three  -years.  Bears  were  common,  wolves  innumerable,  and 
other  wild  animals  in  proportion.  In  fish  and  fowls  the  pres¬ 
ent  generation  have  not  the  faintest  conception  of  the  enormous 
profusion  of  that  period.  The  way  they  were  slaughtered  at 
times  in  mere  sport,  was  a  wicked  waste.  In  1849  the  Winne- 
bagoes  camped  near  the  present  Insane  Hospital.  Spreading 
out  over  the  country,  they  drove  all  the  deer  of  all  kinds  to¬ 
wards  the  center  and  killed  all  —  sparing  none.  They  had  over 
500  carcasses,  when  a  band  of  citizens  went  over  and  drove  them 
off,  but  the  deer  never  recovered  from  that  fatal  raid. 

“  Of  the  population  of  that  period  I  have  in  various  articles 
so  often  spoken  as  to  have  little  to  say.  The  community  was 
almost  a  pure  democracy,  bound  together  by  every  tie  of 
sympathy  and  friendship.  Almost  every  social  gathering  was  in 
common.  The  standard  of  respectability  was  education,  honesty, 
honor,  and  an  observance  of  the  laws  of  good  breeding.  Six¬ 
pences  did  not  count  in  men’s  estimation  of  each  other;  kind, 
generous  and  neighborly  acts  were  taken  as  a  matter  of  course. 
Hone  were  so  poor  or  lowly  as  not  to  receive  necessary  aid  and 
attention.  We  had  no  organized  and  secret  societies  to  help 
-each  other,  and  therefore  did  it  with  scarce  the  asking,  and 
without  thought  of  obligation.  The  modern  crystallizations  of 
conceit  and  selfishness  were  unknown. 

u  Our  politics  in  those  days  were  red  hot,  but  almost  always 
good  natured.  When  able  to  cast  seventy-two  votes  on  one 
occasion,  the  number  was  a  matter  of  public  boast.  It  will  be 


164  HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 

seen  from  this,  that  a  party  could  not  divide  much  on  candi¬ 
dates  and  succeed.  Memory  of  those  eventful  canvasses  is  rich 
in  comic  incident,  and  laughable  surprises.  If  we  had  warm 
differences  at  the  polls,  we  made  it  all  up  in  our  private  and 
social  relations.  We  had  no  scandals,  scarce  any  hut  imported 
divorces,  no  espionage  or  tattle  of  garrulous  inferiority,  no  quar¬ 
rels  of  religious  orders,  no  temperance  societies,  and  hut  little 
intemperance.  Our  wants  were  few;  our  supplies  of  essentials 
always  adequate.  Fashions  did  not  disturb  us.  It  was  not 
regarded  as  vulgar  to  have  physical  strength  and  good  appe¬ 
tites.  Indeed,  none  of  the  modern  clap-trap,  little  affectations, 
small  jealousies,  and  party  dignity  troubled  us.  We  lived  lives 
of  activity  and  usefulness  —  putting  away  sham,  and  looking 
only  to  substance. 

“We  had  one  common  school  house,  then  located  in  the  for¬ 
est,  but  I  am  unable  here  to  name  the  street.  Our  jail  was  a 
log  building,  about  12X16,  used  part  of  the  time  as  a  shoe¬ 
maker’s  shop.  Shortly  after,  by  a  united  effort,  a  church  was 
built  for  Rev.  Mr.  Miner,  soon  succeeded  by  Rev.  Mr.  Lord. 

“  The  forests  from  the  country  were  continuous  across  the 
city  site,  except  where  broken  by  a  few  scanty  houses.  Uni¬ 
versity  hill  was  inaccessible  from  any  direct  road,  overgrown 
with  dense  young  timber,  intermingled  with  gigantic  oaks. 
The  summit  was  the  first  burial  place  —  a  man  killed  by 
lightning  in  1839.  The  grave  was  at  the  southeast  corner  of 
the  present  central  building.  In  time,  burial  places  increased 
to  four  —  one  on  lots  near  or  within  the  premises  of  Judge 
Vilas,  one  in  the  ridge  south  of  the  West  Milwaukee  depot,  and 
the  other  the  block  near  S.  D.  Carpenter’s  place.  All  were 
at  the  time  in  a  dense  forest. 

“  Prairie  fires  annually  crossed  the  site  from  one  marsh  to  the 
other,  going  through  the  timber  between  the  capitol  park  and 
Fourth  Lake.  Some  of  these  exhibitions  were  on  so  grand  a 
scale  as  to  remind  me  of  the  great  Chicago  fire. 

“  Of  literary  entertainments  we  had  few.  It  was  the  custom 
to  patronize  everything  that  came  along  to  encourage  others  to 
follow.  Our  first  circus  came  in  1848,  while  the  legislature 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


165 


was  in  session,  and  adjourned  the  body  without  the  formality 
of  a  vote.  Social  gatherings,  from  their  freedom  and  intel¬ 
lectual  cast,  left  little  to  desire.  Fun  and  frolic  was  the  chief 
characteristic,  and  more  of  it  in  a  week  than  ten  years  now 
witness. 

41  A  complete  picture  of  primitive  Madison  would  be  a  pic¬ 
ture  of  the  Territory  at  large,  whose  political,  if  not  intellect¬ 
ual  center  it  then  was.  Each  of  its  settlers  had  characteristic 
peculiarities  of  his  own,  which  affixed  a  decided  mark  to  him. 
These  have  never  wholly  disappeared.  Mutual  respect  and  for¬ 
bearance  was  the  social  as  well  as  civil  rule.  It  was  a  golden 
era,  which  once  passed  will  never  return.” 


166 


HIS  TOBY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


CHAPTER  V. 

Village  and  Town  Elections  1846-49  —  Water  Power  —  Celebra¬ 
tion,  July  4,  1846 —  Public  Cemetery  —  Dr.  C.  B.  Chapman's  ani> 
J.  T.  Clark’s  Reminiscences  —  Elections  1847  —  Hope  Lodge  I.  O. 
O.  F.  —  Knapp’s  Account  of  Capitol  Grounds  —  L.  J.  Farwell’s 
Arrival  —  First  Bell  in  Madison  —  Organization  of  Baptist 
Church  1847  —  Trial  of  Gross  for  Murder  —  Elections  1848- 
49  —  Growth  of  Village,  1848  —  State  Historical  Society,  184& 
—  State  University. 

At  the  session  of  the  legislature  in  the  winter  of  1846,  an  act 
was  passed,  abolishing  the  commissioner  system  of  government, 
and  substituting  town  organizations.  By  the  provisions  of  this 
act,  the  towns  of  Albion,  Rutland,  Rome  (now  Oregon),  Dun¬ 
kirk,  and  Sun  Prairie,  were  set  off  as  separate  towns  —  the  re¬ 
mainder  of  the  county  comprised  the  town  of  Madison. 

On  the  2d  of  March,  the  first  charter  election  for  officers  of 
the  village  under  the  act  of  incorporation,  took  place,  when  the 
following  persons  were  chosen:  President,  Thos.  W.  Suther¬ 
land;  Trustees,  Peter  W.  Matts,  E.  B.  Dean,  Jh,  Wm.  N. 
Seymour,  Alonzo  Wilcox  and  James  Morrison;  Clerk,  Julius 
T.  Clark;  Assessor,  Sidney  F.  Blanchard;  Treasurer,  Dar¬ 
win  Clark;  Marshal,  Andrus  Vi  all. 

The  published  statement  of  the  receipts  and  disbursements 
of  Dane  county,  from  January  11,  1845,  to  January  9, 1846r 
were  —  receipts,  $6,166.81;  disbursements,  $6,493.62. 

The  following  persons  were  elected  town  officers  at  the  spring 
election,  April  f,  1846:  Supervisors,  Jas.  R.  Larkin,  Edwarh 
Campbell  and  Wm.  C.  Wells;  Town  Clerk,  J.  Duane  Ruggles; 
Collector,  Andrus  Viall;  Treasurer,  Darwin  Clark;  Asses¬ 
sors,  Geo.  Vroman,  John  W.  Thomas  and  Wm.  Larkin; 
School  Commissioners,  J.  Gillett  Knapp,  Benjamin  Holt  and 
A.  H.  Talcott;  Fence  Viewers,  T.  W.  Sutherland,  J.  Y. 
Smith  and  E.  B.  Dean,  Jr.;  Road  Commissioners,  J.  M.  Griffin,, 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


167 


Thos.  Rathbun  and  Abiram  Drakely;  Justices  of  the  Peace, 
Wm.  N.  Seymour,  Nat.  Wheeler,  Barlow  Shackleford  and 
Alonzo  Wilcox;  Constables,  Albert  Skinner,  John  Cot¬ 
trell,  James  Moore;  Sealer,  Squire  Lamb.  The  vote  for 
State  Government  was  200,  against,  47.  At  the  same  time  a 
tax  of  two  and  half  mills,  on  the  dollar  valuation,  was  levied 
for  the  support  of  schools,  and  the  same  amount  for  road  pur¬ 
poses.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors,  June  1,  a  tax 
of  five  mills  was  levied  for  poor  purposes,  and  $100  for  incidental 
expenses,  and  on  June  Bd,  tavern  licenses  were  fixed  at  $5.00 
in  the  country  and  $15.00  in  town;  merchants’  licenses  $10, 
and  grocers’  $100. 

The  Trustees  of  the  Village,  on  the  23d  of  March,  1846,  pub¬ 
lished  proposals  to  lease  the  Hydraulic  power  within  the  corpo¬ 
ration  limits  as  follows: 

“  Whereas,  it  has  been  ascertained  by  measurement  that  there 
is  within  the  corporation  limits  of  Madison,  a  fall  or  difference 
of  elevation  between  the  Third  and  Fourth  of  the  Four  Lakesr 
sufficient  if  improved,  to  create  a  water  power  of  considerable 
magnitude;  and  whereas,  the  legislature  of  this  Territory  did 
by  an  act  approved  February  3,  1846,  grant  to  the  corporation 
of  Madison  the  right  to  lease,  improve  or  otherwise  dispose  of 
said  water  power,  therefore, 

u  Public  notice  is  hereby  given  that  the  undersigned  Board  of 
Trustees  of  said  Corporation,  will  receive  proposals  until  the  first 
day  of  June  next,  for  leasing  the  right  to  the  water  above  men-' 
tioned  for  a  term  of  years  on  the  condition  that  the  lessee  or  lessees 
excavate  and  complete  a  canal  of  40  feet  in  width  at  the  bottom 
and  50  at  the  top,  from  the  Fourth  to  the  Third  Lake  along  or 
near  East  Canal  street,  dam  the  present  outlet  of  the  Fourth 
Lake,  build  two  good  plank  bridges  across  said  canal,  the  one 
near  the  Third  and  the  other  near  the  Fourth  Lake,  with  a 
substantial  railing  to  each ;  erect  a  good  flouring  mill  with  at 
least  four  run  of  stone,  and  such  other  machinery  as  the  lessee 
or  lessees  may  see  proper,  all  to  be  performed  within  a  reason¬ 
able  time,  and  bonds  to  he  given  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Corpo¬ 
ration  of  Madison  for  the  faithful  prosecution  and  completion 


168 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


of  said  work.  The  Trustees  would  state  for  the  information  of 
those  who  may  desire  to  undertake  the  work,  that  they  have 
caused  a  level  to  be  taken,  and  that  the  engineer  reports  a  dif¬ 
ference  of  3  71-100  feet  between  the  water  of  the  above  named 
lakes,  with  the  opinion  that,  by  the  proper  damming,  this  fall 
may  be  increased  to  5^  or  6  feet.  The  distance  between  the  Lakes 
on  the  proposed  route  is  about  48  chains,  and  the  nature  of  the 
ground  favorable  for  excavation.  This  cannot  but  create  a 
great  power,  especially  when  it  is  considered  that  its  head  is  a 
lake  of  some  twenty  miles  in  circumference.  The  undersigned 
have  the  utmost  confidence  in  the  practicability  and  advant¬ 
ages  of  the  work,  and  feel  that  they  can  lease  upon  terms  which 
will  make  it  a  most  desirable  object  to  any  capitalist  who  may 
have  the  means  necessary  to  undertake  its  construction. 

“  T.  W.  Sutherland,  President. 

“  Peter  W.  Matts, 
u  Eliab  B.  Dean,  Jr., 

“  Wllliam  N.  Seymour, 

“  Alonzo  Wilcox, 

“James  Morrison, 
ct  Barlow  Shackleford, 

“  Trustees. 


u  J .  T.  Clark,  Clerk. 

“  Madison,  March  23,  1846.” 


In  reply  to  which,  a  proposition  was  made  by  Simeon  Mills 
to  lease  the  water  power  for  sixty  years ;  which  proposition  was 
accepted.  Subsequently  Mr.  Mills  had  a  careful  survey  made 
of  the  level  of  the  lakes,  and  not  being  satisfied  with  the  result, 
abandoned  the  undertaking.  In  1848  he  erected  on  lots  6  and 
7,  block  116,  corner  of  Main  and  Blair  streets,  a  steam  saw  mill. 
On  the  6th  of  December,  1857,  he  advertised  for  1,000  saw  logs. 

The  celebration  of  the  4th  of  July  this  year  was  observed  with 
the  following  officers:  Jona.  Larkin,  President;  M.  G.  Van 
Bergen  and  J.  Y.  Smith, Vice  Presidents;  A.  A.  Bird,  Marshal; 
Beriah  Brown,  Reader;  Wm.  Welch,  Orator;  Rev.  S.  E. 
Miner,  Chaplain;  S.  F.  Blanchard,  D.  B.  Sneeden,  Royal 
Buck,  John  T.  Wilson,  Geo.  A.  Cary,  E.  B.  Dean,  Jr.,  Ben- 


The  Capitol ,  from  the  South  Gate. 
Hospital  for  the  Insane . 


JONES,  Photo. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


169 


jamin  Holt,  Andrus  Viall,  Beriah  Brown,  and  S.  M.  Van 
Bergen,  Committee  of  Arrangements.  Of  the  celebration  one 
newspaper  says: 

u  The  Honorable  Fourth  of  July  arrived  in  town  last  Friday 
night,  and  notwithstanding  the  lateness  of  the  hour,  many  of 
our  citizens  were  on  hand  to  welcome  his  approach  hy  a  salute 
from  a  150  pounder  (that  is  to  say,  the  anvil  weighed  that), 
and  such  other  “hasty”  ceremonies  as  were  suited  to  the 
occasion. 

“  Daylight  was  ushered  in  by  a  magnficent  thunder  storm, 

.  and  in  the  way  of  a  morning  salute,  the  thunder  did  the  clean 
thing,  while  the  said  anvil  lay  upon  the  ground  in  mute  aston¬ 
ishment.  The  salute  being  over,  the  vapors  disappeared  and 
old  Sol  received  the  nation’s  guest  with  warm  congratulations. 
The  oration,  by  Mr.  Welch,  judging  from  the  impression  it 
produced  and  the  various  opinions  and  remarks  which  it  elic¬ 
ited,  must  have  possessed  the  rare  qualities  of  originality  and 
strength,  if  nothing  more.  The  dinner  was  served  up  in  good 
style  by  R.  W.  Lansing,  and  the  Madison  Brass  Band  enlivened 
the  occasion  by  a  variety  of  choice  music,  and  we  are  happy  in 
being  able  to  add  that  but  very  little  of  intemperance  or  dis¬ 
orderly  conduct  was  witnessed  during  the  day  and  evening.” 

Until  the  year  1846,  Madison  cannot  be  said  to  have  had  a 
public  cemetery.  The  sand  ridge,  southeast  of  the  depot  of 
the  Milwaukee  and  Mississippi  Railroad  Company,  the  university 
hill,  and  part  of  block  61,  had  been  previously  used  —  none 
were  enclosed  or  otherwise  improved.  The  first  act  of  the 
corporation  for  the  purchase  of  burial  grounds,  seems  to  have 
taken  place  this  year,  but  the  purchase  was  not  perfected  until 
two  or  three  years  later.  The  grounds  selected  was  block  180, 
about  one  mile  northeast  of  the  capitol  building,  and  embraced 
an  area  of  about  three  and  a  half  acres.  It  was  subsequently 
platted  into  256  lots,  16  of  the  larger  size  equivalent  to  64  of 
the  smaller  ones  being  reserved  as  a  Potters  Field,  leaving  236 
lots,  10  by  18  feet  each,  for  private  sale;  of  this  last  number  139 
have  been  disposed  of,  leaving  for  future  wants  but  117  lots. 
The  ground  on  the  whole  is  favorably  located  and  adapted  to 
12 


170 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


the  end  in  view,  having  a  subsoil  generally  composed  of  sand 
and  gravel.  It  has  been  properly  enclosed  with  a  neat  and 
substantial  fence,  at  an  expense  of  about  $200.  The  land  has 
an  elevation  of  about  thirty  feet  above  lake  Monona,  on  which 
it  ought  to  have  bordered,  and  has  an  easy  and  gentle  slope, 
and  was  deemed  a  judicious  selection  considering  the  views 
entertained  of  the  probable  future  growth  of  the  village. 

Maj.  H.  A.  Tenney  has  an  article  in  the  State  Journal  of 
November  26,  1853,  strongly  urging  the  importance  of  pur¬ 
chasing  a  tract  of  land  of  forty  or  more  acres,  to  meet  the 
future  wants  of  the  town. 

The  population  of  Madison  this  year  (1846)  was  626,  and 
Dane  county  8,289.  Two-thirds,  and  probably  three-fourths 
of  the  village  plat  was  covered  with  forest  trees  and  hazel 
brush.  Not  over  half  a  dozen  houses  had  been  erected  west¬ 
ward  or  northward  of  the  Capitol  square;  and  the  forest  north¬ 
eastward  remained  unbroken  below  the  street  on  which  the  old 
jail  is  located.  East  and  west  King  street  (now  State  street), 
a  part  of  Morris  (now  Main  street),  and  those  immediately 
around  the  square,  comprised  about  all  the  streets  opened  for 
travel.  Such  was  the  appearance  of  the  village  in  1846,  and 
for  four  years  thereafter  its  growth  was  anything  but  rapid. 

The  amount  of  real  and  personal  property  assessed  for  cor¬ 
poration  purposes,  and  the  amount  of  taxes  levied  for  1846  were: 
Real,  $41,019.  Personal,  $9,300.  Total,  $50,319.  Amount  of 
tax,  $251.60. 

We  are  indebted  to  Dr.  C.  B.  Chapman,  who  came  to  Madi¬ 
son  in  1846,  for  the  following  paper  of  reminiscences  of  men 
and  things  as  they  appeared  to  him  shortly  after  his  arrival : 

u  It  is  not  easy  to  calculate  the  advantage  which  would  be 
conferred  upon  individuals  and  communities  by  the  introduc¬ 
tion  into  schools  and  families  of  a  system  by  which  the  more 
important  events  of  each  day  shall  be  noted.  The  small  amount 
of  time  which  would  be  demanded  for  a  strict  adherence  to  such 
a  custom,  seems  to  indicate  that  it  only  requires  that  some 
simple  form  should  be  introduced  in  order  to  secure  a  more 
general  compliance  with  the  custom.  If  such  statements  in  a 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


171 


diary  should  only  embrace  reports  of  weather  and  employment 
of  the  day,  it  would  enable  the  person  to  recur  to  many  other 
contemporary  incidents.  I  am  reminded  of  what  I  have  stated, 
as  I  have  set  for  myself  the  task  of  producing  an  account  of 
my  first  years  in  Madison.  It  has  been  by  the  expenditure  of 
much  labor  and  care  in  the  searching  for  memoranda,  that  the 
dates,  which  will  hereafter  appear,  have  been  arrived  at  and 
made  reliable,  while  more  use  of  exact  dates  would  be  much 
more  satisfactory. 

u  It  was  on  the  18th  of  May,  1846,  that  I  left  Bristol,  Trum¬ 
bull  county,  Ohio,  for  Madison.  There  was  no  railroad  in  that 
part  of  the  State;  the  nearest  was  the  Lake  Erie  and  Mad 
River  Road,  from  Sandusky,  extending  southward.  I  journeyed 
to  Cleveland  by  private  convej^ance,  and  thence  to  Milwaukee 
by  the  steamboat  Wisconsin.  Boats  were  then  well  patronized 
by  travelers  and  emigrants,  along  the  chain  of  lakes,  from  Buf¬ 
falo  to  Chicago.  A  portion  of  the  Michigan  Central  Road  had 
been  finished,  and  a  small  proportion  of  the  passengers  left  us 
at  Detroit,  in  order  to  come  onward  by  that  route,  which  gave 
but  little  advantage  in  time. 

“We  arrived  at  Milwaukee  on  the  morning  of  Saturday, 
May  23d,  and,  as  the  stage  left  there  for  Madison  but  three 
times  a  week,  or  on  Monday,  Wednesday  and  Friday,  we  re¬ 
mained  until  Monday  morning,  the  25th.  We  arrived  at  Janes¬ 
ville  at  11  P.  M.,  and  at  Madison  the  evening  of  May  26.  Our 
first  view  of  the  dome  of  the  old  capitol  was  from  the  eleva¬ 
tion  north  from  Deming  Fitch’s  farm,  northwest  quarter  of 
section  25.  The  town  site  was  then  mostly  covered  by  a  forest 
of  small  oaks.  The  forest  along  the  way  through  Grreenbush 
was  so  dense  that  we  did  not  obtain  another  view  of  the 
Capitol  until  near  the  south  corner  of  the  Capitol  square. 
The  only  building  between  that  corner  and  the  outlet  of  Dead 
Lake  (Lake  Wingra)  was  the  log  house  of  Thomas  Duhn-, 
which  was  a  short  distance  below  the  court  house.  The  City 
Hotel  was  then  the  stage  house,  and  stood  upon  the  corner 
where  the  Fairchild  Block  now  stands.  It  was  a  story  and 
a  half  house,  and  was  kept  by  Col.  A.  A.  Bird.  It  was  there 


172 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


I  took  my  first  repast  in  Madison.  An  incident  occurred  dur¬ 
ing  my  first  hours  in  Madison  that  I  have  well  remembered. 
On  crossing  the  street,  after  our  evening  repast,  to  the  east 
gate  of  the  Capitol  square,  accompanied  by  a  fellow-passenger, 
we  met  a  person  with  a  surveyor’s  chain,  who  walked  to  the 
capitol  with  us,  and  was  ready  to  reply  to  our  various  questions, 
occasionally  attracting  our  attention  to  some  new  beauty  of 
the  place.  As  we  passed  to  the  west  door,  and  took  a  view  of 
the  town  in  that  direction,  I  embraced  the  opportunity  to  en¬ 
quire  for  the  residence  of  Rev.  S.  E.  Miner,  to  whom  I  had 
letters,  when  I  found  I  was  talking  with  him.  He  had  just 
been  using  the  surveyor’s  chain  for  the  purpose  of  preparing 
for  the  foundation  for  the  Congregational  church.  It  was  the 
building  that  stands  on  Webster  street,  opposite'  the  engine 
house.  That  building  was  finished  and  occupied  on  the  ap¬ 
proach  of  the  coming  winter.  Mr.  Miner  occupied  a  frame 
house  that  stood  on  the  lot  now  occupied  by  Wayne  Ramsay, 
Esq.,  on  the  corner  of  Carroll  and  Gorham  streets.  It  was 
then  owned  by  R.  T.  Davis,  and  afterwards  by  the  successor 
of  Mr.  Miner,  Rev.  Chas.  Lord.  The  only  house  in  that  vi¬ 
cinity  was  on  the  opposite  corner,  and  occupied  by  Hon.  Geo. 
B.  Smith. 

“  The  block  upon  the  shore  of  Lake  Mendota,  between  Wis¬ 
consin  avenue  and  Pinckney  street,  was  soon  after  purchased 
by  Julius  T.  Clark,  Esq.,  who  then  predicted  that  that  ridge 
would  become  desirable  residence  property,  although  it  was 
then  reached  by  passing  through  a  thick  growth  of  oaks,  and 
no  streets  were  defined  after  leaving  the  Capitol  grounds.  The 
streets  as  well  as  the  lots  were  covered  by  a  forest  of  small 
oaks.  John  Mallo  had  a  brick  yard  on  the  third  block  west 
of  the  corner  of  the  Capitol  square.  The  lot  where  1  Brown’s 
Block,’  formerly  ‘  Bruen’s,’  now  stands,  was  mostly  covered 
by  small  trees,  as  well  as  the  avenue  adjoining,  and  James 
Morrison  and  others  had  it  in  use  for  their  pig-styes.  The 
jail,  which  was  a  rude  log  structure,  stood  near  the  small  brick 
schoolhouse.  It  had  two  rooms,  one  of  which  was  reached  by 
passing  through  the  first,  and  the  inner  room  had  some  of  the 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


173 


ancient  appliances  for  securing  criminals.  The  only  inmate  at 
that  time  was  a  James  White,  who  was  awaiting  his  second 
trial  for  an  attempt  to  shoot  Nicholas  Smith.  He  was  con¬ 
fined  by  a  chain  attached  to  one  leg,  and  was  or  had  divested 
himself  of  most  of  his  clothing.*  He  was  tried  and  convicted 
three  times,  and  the  verdict  set  aside  each  time  on  account  of 
the  just  belief  of  Judge  David  Irwih,  that  he  was  irresponsi¬ 
ble  by  reason  of  insanity.  His  conduct,  after  he  was  finally 
set  at  liberty,  fully  justified  his  course.  The  next  year,  the 
jail  was  occupied  by  a  Frenchman  by  the  name  of  GrROSS,  who 
was  tried  for  the  murder  of  a  man  in  what  is  now  the  town  of 
Springfield.  Although  it  was  alleged  that  some  gold  coin  that 
belonged  to  the  man  was  found  in  his  possession,  he  was  ac¬ 
quitted.  In  this  jail  was  also  confined,  a  few  years  later,  the 
‘  Monk  of  La  Trappe,’  who  was  afterward  convicted  of  murder 
by  the  Columbia  county  court,  and  sentenced  to  the  peniten¬ 
tiary  for  life.  This  Rev.  Mr.  Leahey  had  traversed  the  coun¬ 
try  as  a  lecturer,  which  vocation  he  attempted  to  resume  after 
his  pardon,  hut  with  so  little  success  that  he  soon  gave  it  up. 

“  The  school  in  the  1  Little  Brick,’  I  believe,  was  then  under 
the  supervision  of  Royal  Buck,  who  was  succeeded  by  David 
H.  Wright;  this  house  and  the  old  Capitol  were  the  only  places 
where  religious  services  were  held,  until  the  Congregational 
church  edifice  was  completed. 

“There  were  four  hotels  when  I  came,  and  the  fifth  was  re¬ 
opened  a  few  months  after.  These  were  the  ‘  American,’  kept 
by  James  Morrisoh;  the  ‘Madison  House,’  by  Welch  &  Bush- 
hell;  the  ‘City  Hotel,’  by  A.  A.  Bird,  and  the  ‘National,  by 
R.  W.  Lahsihg.  The  ‘  Lake  House  ’  was  re-opened  the  same 
autumn  by  J.  P.  Mahh. 

“  The  number  of  inhabitants  was  then  said  to  be  400,  which 
I  believe  was  a  liberal  estimate.  Surrounding  the  square  were 
the  following  buildings,  as  nearly  as  I  can  remember:  between 
the  north  and  east  corners  was  the  building  which  was  early 
known  as  ‘The  Tiger,’  the  American  Hotel,  W.  W.  Wyman’s 
brick  house  (unfinished),  and  the  United  States  Block  (unfin¬ 
ished).  Between  the  east  and  south  corner  were  the  City 


174 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


Hotel,  Shields  &  Sneeden’s  store  (on  the  site  of  S.  Klauber 
&  Co.’s  store),  A.  L.  Collins’  and  T.  W.  Sutherland’s  law 
offices,  the  building  now  occupied  by  W.  Veerhusen,  the  Na¬ 
tional  Hotel,  S.  Mills’  old  residence,  and  two  smaller  buildings 
used  as  saloons.  The  only  house  on  the  side  between  the  south 
and  west  corners  was  the  house  of  Henry  Gullion,  now  a  part 
of  F.  A.  Ogden’s  building.  Between  the  west  and  north  cor¬ 
ner  was  the  residence  of  John  Gatlin,  Esq.,  which  stood  where 
the  United  States  building  now  stands.  The  only  stores  were 
those  of  Shields  &  Sneeden,  Finch  &  Blanchard,  and  E.  B. 
Dean  &  Cov  but  J.  C.  Fairchild  added  one  a  short  time  after. 
The  only  house  on  Main  street,  southwest  from  Mr.  Mills’ 
was  that  of  Thos.  Dunn,  which  was  in  the  second  block  below 
the  Court  House.  L,  F.  Kellogg  occupied  a  house  nearly  op¬ 
posite  his  present  residence.  Peter  Kayanaugh  had  a  place 
near  the  corner  of  State  street  and  University  avenue,  and 
there  was  a  house  about  two  blocks  westward  of  that,  on  Uni¬ 
versity  avenue,  which  was  then  temporarily  occupied  by  B. 
Britton.  The  only  house  beyond,  and  near  the  city  limits, 
was  that  of  A.  E.  Brooks.  Nearly  all  the  buildings  were 
around  and  near  the  Capitol  square.  King  street,  from  the 
east  corner  of  the  park  to  the  Lake  House,  was  the  only  street 
that  was  at  all  defined  by  improvements,  and  these  in  a  rude 
way.  John  Stoner  lived  near  the  shore  of  Lake  Mendota,  the 
only  residence  but  that  of  Alex.  Wilcox,  in  that  direction. 

“  An  incident  which  occurred  in  March,  1849,  will  indicate 
the  condition  of  improvements  west  of  the  Capitol.  As  Dr.  N. 
M.  Dodson,  a  medical  student,  now  of  Berlin,  Wis.,  was  on  his 
way  from  Galena  to  Madison,  he  called  at  the  house  of  Peter 
Kavanaugh  to  enquire  the  distance  to  Madison.  It  was  at  twi¬ 
light,  or  he  would  have  been  guided  by  the  dome  of  the  capitol. 

“  I  remained  here  without  my  family,  who  joined  me  in  Sep¬ 
tember,  and  I  was  an  inmate  of  the  family  of  David  Holt  du¬ 
ring  that  time.  Mr.  Holt  was  then  Postmaster,  and  had  his 
office  on  Webster  street,  near  the  old  Argus  office  building. 
We  were  first  established  in  housekeeping  in  a  rude  old  struc¬ 
ture  that  was  situated  where  J.  M.  Bowman  now  resides,  and 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


175 


then  known  as  the  Schemerhorn  house,  where  we  remained 
until  the  following  April.  I  then  purchased  the  building 
known  as  the  “  Tiger,”  on  Pinckney  street,  where  we  remained 
until  1850.  That  building  was  said  to  have  been  a  place  where 
much  money  was  won  and  lost  at  faro  and  other  games,  during 
the  sessions  of  the  Legislature;  an  incident  not  remarkably 
creditable  to  our  early  legislators,  although,  perhaps,  as  much 
so  as  the  incidents  of  some  of  the  years  since  that  time.  It  may 
be  supposed  that  as  the  times  and  methods  of  living  were  then 
crude,  the  Legislature  and  legislators  would  partake  of  the 
same  characteristics.  I  have  the  impression  however,  that 
those  early  bodies  would  compare  quite  favorably,  both  in  tal¬ 
ent  and  definite  ideas  with  most  of  their  successors. 

“  The  two  persons  I  first  met  in  alighting  from  the  stage  at 
the  time  I  arrived,  were  A.  A.  Bird  and  James  Halpin.  James 
had  charge  of  the  dining  room,  and  made  himself  generally 
useful.  He  soon  after  engaged  at  the  American  Hotel  then 
kept  by  James  Morrison.  He  made  a  contract  with  Mrs.  Mor¬ 
rison  to  serve  for  one  year,  but  was  to  forfeit  his  wages  in  case 
he  should  return  to  his  old  habits.  He  was  successful  in  com¬ 
plying  with  his  contract,  but  shortly  after  the  time  specified 
had  expired,  under  the  influence  of  an  event  in  his  family,  and 
of  a  generous  tendency  to  enjoy  the  bestowment  of  hospitality, 
he  joined  in  convivial  circles  which  he  was  supporting,  and 
they  culminated  in  the  rapid  waste  of  all  they  had  accumulated, 
including  the  tidy  furniture  in  their  room.  After  removing 
from  the  American  to  a  place  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Monona 
near  the  Lake  House,  where  they  lived  in  wretchedness  for  a 
time,  finding  himself  without  the  means  for  supplying  his  ap¬ 
petite  for  stimulants,  he  ended  his  carousal  by  taking  a  quan¬ 
tity  of  opium  that  would  likely  have  proved  fatal  but  for  the 
use  of  the  stomach  pump.  How  well  he  recovered  from  this 
habit,  and  maintained  the  character  of  a  respectable  citizen,  and 
filled  the  place  of  trust  as  Superintendent  of  Public  Prop¬ 
erty,  was  observed  with  peculiar  gratification  by  his  friends. 
But  he  was  not  always  fully  himself  on  account  of  a  free  use 
of  opium  and  morphine,  and  this  often  caused  his  friends  to 


176 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


suspect  that  he  had  partly  returned  to  his  old  habit.  I  believe 
he  maintained  his  integrit}7  as  to  the  use  of  common  stimulants, 
hut  his  second  habit  became  so  strong,  that  he  declared  his  ina¬ 
bility  to  relinquish  their  use,  and  he  was  sometimes  nearly  as 
much  beclouded  in  his  intelligence  as  formerly.  His  life  was 
&  peculiarly  eventful  one.  He  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  from 
an  early  age  had  traversed  the  ocean  as  a  sailor.  He  landed 
from  a  ship  in  Quebec  during  the  prevalence  of  the  cholera  in 
1832,  and  suffered  an  attack  of  the  malady,  from  which  he 
rapidly  recovered  He  then  came  to  the  States  —  enlisted  as  a 
soldier,  and  was  with  Gen.  Z.  Taylor  mostly  in  the  capac¬ 
ity  of  a  servant,  during  part  of  the  Black  Hawk  War.  He 
was  once  entrusted  with  despatches  between  Green  Bay  and 
Prairie  du  Chien,  when  he  traversed  the  distance  alone,  often 
passing  the  streams  by  swimming  his  horse.  In  April,  1838, 
he  was  a  soldier  at  Newport,  Ky.,  and  with  a  small  detachment 
that  was  ordered  to  an  upper  Mississippi  station  had  taken 
passage  on  the  steamer  Moselle,  when  she  blew  up  at  a  Cin¬ 
cinnati  landing.  His  company  were  all  killed  or  drowned.  He 
was  thrown  from  the  upper  deck  into  the  stream,  swam  ashore, 
and  proceeded  to  his  place  of  destination  and  reported  in  due 
form.  Although  a  roughish  kind  of  an  Irishman,  he  was  re¬ 
markable  for  the  fidelity  with  which  he  fulfilled  any  trust  com¬ 
mitted  to  him. 

“  I  cannot  recall  any  who  now  occupy  the  same  places  they 
did  at  that  time,  except  Mrs.  Brigham,  William  N.  Seymour 
and  the  Pyncheons;  and  Mrs.  Brigham  is  the  only  person  who 
occupies  the  same  house.  David  Holt  owned  and  occupied  the 
house  opposite  Gen.  David  Atwood’s.  The  house  that  was  re¬ 
cently  removed  from  the  corner  in  order  to  give  place  to  Gen. 
Atwood’s  new  residence,  was  occupied  by  Peter  H.  Yah  Ber¬ 
gen,  and  soon  after  by  Jesse  A.  Clark.  J.  G.  Knapp  was  then 
Superintendent  of  Territorial  Property,  and  lived  opposite  the 
Capitol  House  (recently  known  as  the  Rasdall  House),  on  King 
street.  John  Y.  Smith,  Superintendent  before  Mr.  Knapp,  be¬ 
fore  I  came,  was  then  of  the  “  Argus  ”  firm  with  Benjamin 
Holt  and  S.  Mills.  He  was  then  occupying  a  house  from 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


177 


which  that  of  Hon.  S.  D.  Hastings,  was  remodelled,  but  moved 
to  his  own  house  that  autumn,  where  his  first  wife  died  the  fol¬ 
lowing  March.  Mrs.  Smith,  as  well  as  her  husband,  was  an 
early  resident  of  Green  Bay,  where  she  came  from  New  York 
when  quite  young,  as  a  missionary  of  the  Episcopal  church.  She 
possessed  rare  literary  qualities  which  were  little  known  on  ac¬ 
count  of  her  peculiar  diffidence.  A  fragment  of  her  diary,  du¬ 
ring  a  thunder  storm,  while  passing  up  Lake  Huron,  on  her 
way  to  her  new  home,  will  indicate  her  chaste  imagination,  and 
such  as  has  often  conferred  a  world- wide  fame.  It  was  this: 
“  Who  hut  Jehovah  could  cause  the  heavens  to  groan  in  thun¬ 
ders,  and  to  weep  in  showers.” 

“  There  were  two  early  residents  of  Madison  who  were  not 
well  pleased  with  the  improvements  which  were  invading  the 
‘  Four  Lake  country.”  They  were  from  Canada  —  Canadian 
French  —  and  I  have  the  impression  that  they  preceded  the 
first  permanent  residents.  These  were  Louis  Montandon  and 
Philip  Covalle.  Abel  Rasdall  lived  in  the  log  house  which 
had  been  occupied  by  the  Peck  family  on  Webster  street,  be¬ 
low  Mrs.  Brigham’s  residence.  Wm.  M.  Rasdall  was  Deputy 
Sheriff,  and  had  charge  of  the  jail  at  the  time  before  mentioned. 
Ira  W.  Bird  was  Sheriff 'and  A.  A.  Bird,  Hotel  Keeper,  Rev. 
Charles  Lord  succeeded  Mr.  Miner  as  supply  of  the  Congre¬ 
gational  church  in  the  autumn  of  1846.  He  came  from  Massa¬ 
chusetts,  but  had  been  a  missionary  at  Independence,  Mo.  He 
remained  until  1854,  and  bore  his  part  with  fidelity  in  giving 
caste  to  our  early  society,  in  which  Mrs.  Lord  was  a  true  help¬ 
mate.  His  health,  or  especially  his  sight,  failed  for  a  time  to 
such  extent  as  to  render  him  incapable  of  performing  the  neces¬ 
sary  work  of  preparation,  when  he  returned  to  his  native  hills 
in  Massachusetts,  where  he  remained,  having  so  far  recovered 
as  to  be  able  for  lighter  service.  After  a  brief  illness,  he  died  at 
the  house  of  his  daughter  in  Brooklyn,  N  Y.  His  predecessor, 
Rev.  Mr.  Miner,  left  the  ministry  a  few  years  after  he  left  Mad¬ 
ison,  and  has  recently  been  engaged  in  successful  business  in 
Kansas. 

“Justice  was  for  several  years  mostly  dispensed  by  Esquire 


178 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


Seymour,  *  who  was  one  of  the  most  active  and  useful  among 
our  early  citizens,  and  was  a  generous  leader  in  every  new  en¬ 
terprise  of  whatever  kind.  As  there  was  no  church  edifice  for 
several  months,  the  use  of  the  council  chamber  in  the  old  capi- 
tol  was  shared  by  the  Congregational  and  Episcopal  churches. 
Rev.  Stephen  McHugh  was  the  minister  of  the  Episcopal 
church.  The  Methodists  occupied  the  school  house  for  their 
services.  There  was  no  church-bell  until  June,  1848,  when  one 
was  placed  in  the  Congregational  church,  and  this  served  for 
common  use  of  the  several  congregations  for  about  four  years. 
I  well  remember  the  first  time  I  heard  its  tones,  as  I  was  re¬ 
turning  from  my  first  excursion  to  Chicago.  The  bell  was  not 
yet  placed  in  the  tower,  but  was  placed  near  the  corner  of 
Webster  and  Main  streets,  where  ’Squire  Seymour  would  have 
it  rung,  and  when  a  respectable  crowd  gathered  around  it,  would 
embrace  the  opportunity  to  secure  contributions  to  be  used  in 
payment  for  the  bell. 

“  The  number  of  improved  farms  throughout  the  county  was 
then,  but  very  few,  and  consequently,  in  most  cases  they  were  far 
between.  My  first  excursion  outside  the  village  in  connection 
with  the  practice  of  my  profession,  was  to  Sugar  river,  about 
sixteen  miles.  It  was  not  far  from  the  present  residence  of 
Varnum  Parkhurst.  The  patient  was  a  Mrs.  Lomary,  and 
the  messenger,  Samuel  Parkhurst.  I  have  the  impression 
that  we  did  not  pass  more  than  four  houses  on  the  way.  My 
next  visit  was  to  John  Ensign,  who  kept  a  way-side  inn  called 
the  Prairie  house,  eight  miles  north-east  from  town  on  the  old 
Fort  Winnebago  road.  The  houses  passed  on  the  way  beyond 

*  William  N.  Seymour  was  a  son  of  Hon.  Wm.  Seymour  who  represent¬ 
ed  the  20th  Congressional  district  of  New  York,  in  the  24th  Congress  of 
3:835—37,  and  who  was  a  member  of  the  New  York  Assembly  in  1832  and 
*834.  He  was  born  at  Binghampton,  Broome  county,  New  York,  April  22, 
1808,  and  came  to  Madison  January  29,  1838,  and  has  resided  here  since 
that  time.  He  has  held  many  offices  in  the  town,  village  and  city.  He 
was  the  acting  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  a  long  series  of  years,  and  was  the 
first  clerk  of  the  city  council  in  1856.  Esquire  Seymour  is  still  living  at 
Madison,  and  is  one  of  the  well-known  characters  of  the  city.  For  many 
year  he  has  suffered  from  paralysis. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


179 


the  Lake  House,  were  two  m  town,  one  of  which  stood  near  the 
East  Madison  depots,  and  the  other  on  the  lake  shore  a  short 
distance  beyond  the  Sprecher  Brewery,  occupied  by  Mrs. 
Houghton".  Those  beyond  the  Catfish  (now  known  as  the 
Yahara),  were  those  of  Grover,  Gould,  Thos.  Daily  and  the 
old  Seventy-Six  house,  then  occupied  by  Alex.  Botkin,  Esq. 
About  the  same  time,  1846, 1  was  requested  to  go  to  a  place  near 
where  the  MacFarland  station  now  is,  to  visit  one  of  the  fam¬ 
ily  of  John  Reed.  He  came  over  from  Second  lake  (lake  Wau- 
besa)  in  a  boat,  but  proposed  that  I  find  my  way  to  his  cabin 
by  passing  around  the  lake,  a  portion  of  the  way  to  be  guided  by 
an  Indian  trail  which  I  had  not  seen.  I  was  not  enough  confi¬ 
dent  that  I  could  find  the  way,  so  he  then  proposed  to  take  me 
across  the  lake  in  a  boat,  to  which  plan  I  assented,  on  his  repre¬ 
sentation  that  his  place  was  but  half  a  mile  from  where  we  would 
land ;  but  it  proved  to  be  as  much  as  two  miles  and  a  half.  As 
we  passed  along  the  Catfish  between  the  Third  and  Second 
Lakes  (lakes  Monona  and  Waubesa),  we  observed  an  encamp¬ 
ment  of  Winnebago  Indians  on  the  east  shore,  which  probably 
numbered  as  many  as  a  hundred.  This  man  Reed  soon  after 
abandoned  his  family,  and  his  wife  became  the  wife  of  Matthew 
Dunn. 

“  Hon.  Henry  Dodge,  being  then  Governor,  Geo.  P.  Dela- 
plaine  was  his  Private  Secretary,  which  position  he  also  occu¬ 
pied  during  the  administration  of  Governor  Dewey.  John 
Catlin  was  Secretary  of  the  Territory,  and  Jonathan  Larkin 
was  Treasurer.  It  was  during  that  year  that  John  Catlin 
and  E.  M.  Willamson  commenced  the  arrangement  of  the 
Dane  County  Abstract  Office,  which  was  supposed  to  be  the 
second  one  in  the  Territory.  One  had  already  been  com¬ 
menced  in  Milwaukee.  Simeon  Mills  had  an  interest  in 
the  Argus  office  although  he  was  not  an  active  worker  on 
the  paper,  John  Y.  Smith  having  the  editorial  supervision. 
Daniel  M.  Holt  was  a  printer  in  the  same  office.  The  Madison 
Express  was  then  published  by  W.  W.  Wyman,  and  the 
Democrat  by  Beriah  Brown.  The  Argus  and  Democrat  were 
soon  after  consolidated,  and  a  new  Whig  paper  started  by 


180  HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 

Atwood  &  Buck  called  the  Wisconsin  Express.  Elisha  Bur¬ 
dick  was  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors,  and  was  suc¬ 
ceeded  by  Royal  Buck.  E.  M.  Williamson  was  Surveyor  and 
laid  out  some  of  the  early  roads  in  the  county.  Darwin  Clark 
had  already  established  his  cabinet  shop  on  the  corner  of 
his  present  place,  which  business  he  has  maintained  with 
more  than  usual  stability,  as  well  as  the  character  of  a 
worthy  and  reliable  citizen.  Geo.  A.  Cary  and  Chas.  Bil¬ 
lings  were  the  village  blacksmiths,  and  Casper  Rouse  worked 
for  them,  and  afterward  established  the  business  for  himself. 
Mr.  Rouse  is  now  a  resident  of  Marion  Center,  Kansas.  Peter 
H.  Van  Bergen  (who  built  the  Congregational  church),  H.  C. 
Parker,  A.  L.  Harris,  John  Easton  and  — —  Gilchrist 
were  the  village  carpenters  and  joiners.  Barlow  Shackle¬ 
ford  occupied  the  house  which  stands  next  the  Hooley  Opera 
House  on  Ctymer  street,  where  he  died  in  November,  1846. 
Orlin  Rood  lived  on  the  farm  west  of  the  town  that  is  now 
owned  by  D.  Campbell.  James  Dow  lived  in  a  place  dug  out 
of  a  side  hill  and  covered  by  a  roof  not  far  from  the  u  Cary 
Farm,”  and  perhaps,  it  was  on  that  place.  James  was  one  of 
nature’s  noblemen,  but  for  the  habit  of  using  strong  drink  — 
a  habit  which  he  greatly  regretted,  and  made  many  efforts  to 
desist  from.  He  had  been  a  sailor,  and  was  a  native  of  Scot¬ 
land.  Thomas  Walker  came  here  from  New  York  by  sug¬ 
gestion  of  E.  B.  Dean,  and  established  himself  as  a  tailor. 
That  place  had  mostly  been  occupied  by  Nicholas  Smith,  who 
soon  after  became  a  merchant.  Luther  Wilson  and  Decatur 
Vandercook  established  a  livery  stable  during  that  summer. 
Alonzo  Wilcox  was  the  shoemaker,  a  vocation  which  he  still 
pursues  at  Spring  Green,  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin;  although 
he  is  well  fitted  for  what  are  commonly  regarded  as  higher 
vocations,  although  this  idea  is  but  a  myth,  provided  the  part 
one  bears  is  acted  with  fidelity.  P.  W.  Matts  owned  and 
occupied  the  house  next  Thompson’s  Hotel,  and  was  elected 
Sheriff,  1841-2.  J.  R.  Brigham  returned  that  season,  having 
just  graduated  at  Amherst  College,  and  entered  the  law  office 
of  A.  L.  Collins  soon  after  his  return. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


181 


“  The  only  physicians  in  the  village  or  county  were  H.  A. 
Tiffany  and  Dr.  Spencer.  Two  persons  of  more  discordant 
character  and  characteristics  could  not  well  be  found.  The 
first  named  seemed  to  have  plunged  into  the  profession  with¬ 
out  much  preparation,  but  the  simple  character  of  most  of  the 
maladies  had  required  but  the  most  simple  routine  treatment, 
and  the  possession  of  an  abundance  of  assurance  gave  him  a  large 
practice.  Dr.  Spencer  had  enjoyed  the  best  advantages  the 
country  afforded,  which  he  had  well  improved  and  but  few 
persons  any  where  are  better  qualified  for  the  work  of  a 
medical  practitioner.  Notwitsthanding  this,  his  practice  had 
been  much  less  than  that  of  the  other  incumbent.  A  habit 
which  too  often  prevails  among  persons  on  the  frontier  may 
have  had  some  influence  in  diminishing  his  patronage,  but  it 
is  said  that  he  became  strictly  temperate  after  he  left  here. 

u  After  the  establishment  of  the  Democrat  as  competitor  of 
the  Argus  (which  was  an  organ  of  the  same  political  party,  or 
rather  the  organ  of  a  party  within  the  party),  the  contest  was 
sharp  for  the  legislative  printing.  Beriah  Brown  had  his 
friends  as  well  as  the  Argus ,  but  he  is  said  to  have  put  forth 
more  effort  to  secure  success.  A  characteristic  little  speech  in 
a  caucus,  held  before  the  printer  was  elected,  will  indicate  the 
character  of  some  legislators.  A  new  member  was  requested  to 
inform  the  caucus  upon  whom  he  wished  to  have  the  place  con¬ 
ferred.  He  arose  with  more  than  common  deliberation,  which 
was  said  to  have  been  somewhat  prolonged  on  account  of  his 
ample  form  having  become  wedged  into  an  arm  chair,  and 
expressed  the  opinion,  that  Mr.  Brown  ought  to  have  the 
place,  adding,  ‘  we  have  eat  his  oysters,  and  drinked  his  licker, 
and  it  will  not  be  right  to  go  back  on  him.’  ” 

Julius  T.  Clark,  Esq.,  now  of  Topeka,  Kansas,  has  fur¬ 
nished  his  early  reminiscences,  as  follows : 

“In  the  year  1840,  I  had  completed  my  legal  studies,  and 
was  attracted  to  Madison  by  reports  of  the  natural  beauty  and 
salubrity  of  its  location,  as  well  as  by  its  prospective  advan¬ 
tages  as  the  future  capital  of  the  State.  I  arrived  in  Madison 
in  the  month  of  August  in  the  year  above  named.  On  my  way 


182 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


from  Ottawa,  Ill.,  where  I  had  been  residing,  I  passed  through 
Beloit  and  Janesville,  the  former  containing  some  half  a  dozen 
houses;  the  latter,  hut  one,  made  of  upright  boards,  and  which 
was  built  for  the  accommodation  of  the  stage,  which  was  run¬ 
ning  somewhat  regularly  on  that  route.  There  were  then  a 
number  of  buildings  in  Madison,  the  principal  ones  being  the 
American  Hotel,  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Pinckney  street 
and  Washington  avenue,  and  the  Madison  Hotel,  on  the  south 
side  of  King  street,  east  of  the  Capitol  grounds,  (both  since 
burned),  one  frame  store  building  belonging  to  James  Morri¬ 
son",  just  above  the  Madison  Hotel,  a  small  printing  office,  and 
several  dwellings  —  some  of  logs  and  some  of  boards.  The 
walls  of  the  old  Territorial  Capitol  were  up,  and  the  building 
enclosed,  but  the  inside  was  almost  entirely  in  an  unfinished 
state.  On  my  first  visit,  as  above  stated,  I  found  the  District 
Court  in  session,  Judge  Irvin  presiding,  and  S.  Mills,  Clerk, 
with  quite  a  number  of  cases  on  the  docket,  mostly  marked 
with  the  names  of  John  Catlin,  William  N.  Seymour  and 
David  Brigham,  as  attorneys,  Seymour  having  rather  the 
largest  number  of  cases.  This  fact  may  account  for  my  form¬ 
ing  a  partnership  with  him  in  the  law  practice,  which  lasted 
a  year  or  more.  The  improvements  at  Madison  were,  at  that 
time,  confined  almost  entirely  to  that  part  of  King  street  lying 
between  the  east  corner  of  the  Capitol  grounds  and  Third 
Lake,  and  that  part  of  Pinckney  street  fronting  the  northeast 
line  of  the  Capitol  grounds.  W.  W-  Wyman  and  J.  A.  Noo¬ 
nan  were  each  publishing  a  paper,  the  former  an  administra¬ 
tion  paper,  and  of  which  I  had  the  editorial  charge  for  some 
time,  and  the  latter  an  opposition  paper,  as  parties  then  ex¬ 
isted.  The  steam  saw  mill,  where  most  of  the  lumber  was 
manufactured  for  the  construction  of  the  Capitol  and  other 
buildings,  stood  on  the  bank  of  the  Fourth  Lake,  at  the  foot 
of  the  hill  just  below  the  residence  of  the  late  B.  F.  Hopkins. 
With  the  exception  of  the  small  portions  I  have  named  above, 
almost  the  entire  area  of  what  is,  at  this  day,  the  beautiful  city 
of  Madison,  was  in  its  wild  and  native  condition:  and  what  is 
now  the  most  attractive  portion  of  the  city,  was  then,  and  for 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN.  183 

some  years  later,  almost  an  impassable  forest,  with  a  dense  un¬ 
dergrowth  of  young  trees  and  briars,  through  which  I  used  to 
make  my  way  hunting  for  partridges  and  other  game,  with 
great  difficulty.  I  refer  to  the  ridge  or  high  lands  on  the  south¬ 
eastern  border  of  the  Fourth  Lake.  But  the  greatest  change 
has  taken  place  in  the  character  of  the  level  stretch  of  land 
lying  between  the  two  lakes  on  the  east  side  of  the  city.  In 
the  early  settlement  of  the  place,  most  of  that  part  of  the  city 
was  covered  with  water,  especially  in  the  spring  of  the  year, 
when  the  lakes  were  full.  At  such  times,  fishermen  in  their 
boats  would  spear  abundance  of  fish  in  its  shallow  waters.  The 
first  real,  and  at  all  successful  attempt  to  redeem  this  flat  from 
the  water  was  made  by  Gov.  Farwell,  in  connection  with  the 
German  Baron  Mohr,  by  means  of  ditching  and  planting  trees, 
about  1849-50.  The  low  land  on  the  south  side  of  the  townT 
extending  from  the  Third  Lake,  by  the  Fourth  Ward  school 
building,  around  to  the  north  of  the  Milwaukee  and  Prairie  du 
Chien  depot  grounds,  was  also  for  a  long  time  covered  more 
or  less  with  water,  and,  in  some  portions,  was  impassable  at  all 
times. 

“  The  original  plat  of  Madison  only  extended  half  a  mile 
from  the  Capitol  on  the  west.  The  history  of  the  University 
addition  is  this:  The  Congress  of  the  United  States  had  donat¬ 
ed  to  the  State  of  Wisconsin  a  certain  quantity  of  land  for  the 
establishment  and  endowment  of  a  University  to  be  located  at 
or  near  the  Capitol.  The  duty  of  selecting  a  site  and  commenc* 
ing  operations  devolved  upon  the  Board  of  Regents  elected  by 
the  Legislature  in  1848,  of  which  board  I  was  a  member.  The 
other  members  were:  E.  Root,  S.  Mills,  H.  Barber,  A.  L. 
Collins,  J.  H.  Rountree,  J.  Bannister.  T.  W.  Sutherland 
and  Rufus  King.  Adjoining  the  town  plat  on  the  west,  was  a 
quarter  section  of  land  which  included  in  its  boundary  the  ele¬ 
vation  upon  which  the  University  buildings  now  stand.  This 
quarter  section  we  found  could  be  purchased  at  a  moderate  ex^ 
pense,  if  I  remember  correctly,  about  twelve  dollars  per  acre. 
The  Regents  purchased  it,  reserved  forty  acres  for  University 
purposes,  and  platted  the  remainder  as  an  addition  to  the  city, 


184  HISTORY  OF  MADISON  ARD  THE 

to  be  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  University  fund.  From  sales 
of  these  lots  there  was  realized  nearly  or  quite  an  amount  suf¬ 
ficient  to  erect  and  complete  the  first  of  the  buildings  now  on 
the  grounds,  in  addition  to  the  original  cost  of  the  land.  I  do 
not  know  the  exact  number  of  the  population  of  Madison 
when  I  came,  but  it  was  quite  small,  as  the  census  for  that  year 
(1840),  showed  the  population  of  the  whole  of  Dane  coun¬ 
ty,  including  Madison,  to  be  only  314.  The  growth  of  the  town 
from  the  time  I  became  a  citizen,  was  not  very  rapid,  for  sev¬ 
eral  years.  Even  in  A.  D.  1846,  when  I  commenced  my  im¬ 
provements  on  blocks  94  and  95,  on  the  banks  of  the  Fourth 
Lake,  it  was  the  first  instance  in  which  any  improvement  had 
been  made  in  that  part  of  the  town,  and  almost  the  first  on  the 
northwest  side  of  the  Capitol  park.  Even  after  I  had  com¬ 
pleted  and  was  occupying  my  house,  my  friends  would  jokingly 
ask  me  how  I  liked  my  country  life,  and  whether  I  had  any  dif¬ 
ficulty  in  finding  my  way  back  and  forth.  The  brush  which  I 
grubbed  out  in  clearing  a  place  for  my  house,  was  made  into  a 
fence,  which  answered  a  very  good  purpose  for  some  time  in 
that  capacity. 

“  One  reason,  perhaps,  why  the  growth  of  Madison  was  slow, 
at  first,  may  lie  in  the  fact  that  for  several  years,  at  almost  or 
quite  every  session  of  the  Legislature,  an  effort  was  made  to  re¬ 
move  the  Capitol  to  some  other  place,  generally  to  Milwaukee, 
and  this  effort  upon  the  part  of  the  members  from  that  place,  as 
well  as  the  general  hostility  which  its  citizens  entertained,  or 
at  least,  were  thought  by  the  people  of  Madison  to  entertain 
towards  Madison,  tended  to  create  an  aggrieved  and  embittered 
feeling  towards  the  former  city;  which  I  doubt  not  still  exists 
to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  in  the  minds,  at  least,  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Madison.  Another  fruitful  source  of  trouble  and 
perplexity  at  that  time  was  the  uncertainty  regarding  the  title 
to  the  town  lots.  There  were  three  plats  of  the  town  on  re¬ 
cord*,  each  of  them  differing  from  the  others  and  made  by  two 
different  parties.  Time  and  the  adjudication  of  the  courts  have 
long  since  settled  these  questions  which  were  once  a  prolific 
source  of  litigation  and  strife.  If  any  one  is  curious  to  know 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


185 


the  nature  of  these  contests,  an  examination  of  the  records  of 
the  courts  of  that  time  will  give  him  all  desired  information. 

41  The  town,  for  some  time,  had  but  little  business  to  sustain 
it,  except  what  it  received  as  the  Capital  of  the  Territory, 
through  the  Legislature,  the  courts  and  the  residence  of  the 
state  officials ;  and  the  affairs  of  government  were  then  man¬ 
aged  with  more  economy  than  now.  The  Territory  was  in  all 
parts  sparsely  settled,  and  during  the  sessions  of  the  Legisla¬ 
ture  such  of  the  more  prominent  settlers  as  were  not  actual 
members  of  that  body,  were  very  sure  to  be  present,  either  look¬ 
ing  after  some  public  or  private  interest,  or  to  pass  the  time  in 
social  enjoyment;  for  it  is  one  of  the  pleasantest  recollections 
of  that  period,  that  there  was  a  heartiness  and  warmth  of  at¬ 
tachment  and  good  fellowship  felt  and  manifested  without 
stint  among  those  early  pioneers,  which  has  not  existed  since 
their  time.  It  was  not  uncommon  to  have  social  entertain¬ 
ments  given,  at  which  there  would  be  present  invited  guests 
from  Green  Bay,  Milwaukee,  Racine,  Kenosha,  Mineral  Point, 
Platteville,  Prairie  du  Chien  and  all  the  then  settled  parts  of 
the  State;  and  this,  notwithstanding  the  almost  entire  want  of 
any  public  conveniences  for  traveling  either  in  the  matter  of 
roads  or  vehicles.  Such  an  one  had  just  been  held  and  very 
largely  attended  only  the  day  before  the  cruel  fate  of  the  la¬ 
mented  Arndt  —  a  very  sad  termination  to  one  of  the  most 
successful  and  pleasant  festive  gatherings  that  the  village  has  seen 
either  in  its  earlier  or  later  history.  Among  the  guests  was 
the  father  of  Arndt.  He  was  one  of  the  old  residents  of  Green 
Bay,  and  was  quite  advanced  in  years,  —  a  gentleman  of  great 
respectability  and  unblemished  character.  He  had  made  that 
long  and  tedious  winter  journey  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  his 
son,  around  whom  the  hopes  and  affections  of  his  declining 
years  centered  with  a  very  strong  paternal  fondness, —  and  not 
without  reason,  for  the  younger  Arndt  possessed  in  a  high 
degree,  in  addition  to  his  mental  endowments,  those  amiable 
and  social  qualities  which  attached  to  him  very  warmly  those 
who  shared  his  friendship.  The  Territorial  Council,  of  which 
Arndt  was  a  member,  occupied  the  room  on  the  east  side,  or 
13 


186 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


rather  in  the  east  corner,  and  the  House  of  Representatives  the 
room  at  the  north  corner  of  the  old  Capitol.  It  was  at  the 
close  of  the  morning  session,  which  had  been  somewhat  stormy 
—  and  the  debates  which  had  been  elicited  on  certain  nomina¬ 
tions  made  to  the  Council  by  Gov.  Doty,  had  been  considerably 
personal,  and  acrimonious  and  irritating  in  their  character,  es¬ 
pecially  on  the  part  of  him  who  was  soon  to  leave  the  room  a 
homicide.  The  President  had  experienced  some  difficulty  in 
maintaining  order  during  a  portion  of  the  debate  just  before  the 
adjournment;  and  fearing  a  personal  collision,  as  soon  as  he 
declared  the  session  adjourned,  he  stepped  rapidly  from  the  desk 
to  place  himself  between  the  irritated  parties,  but  failed  to 
reach  them  in  time  to  avert  the  catastrophe  —  the  fatal  shot 
had  been  given,  penetrating  the  heart  of  the  unfortunate 
Arndt,  who  fell  back  into  the  arms  of  those  who  were  stand¬ 
ing  near,  and  expired  immediately  without  a  struggle.  His 
father  was  in  the  opposite  hall  at  the  time,  and  hearing  the 
commotion,  came,  with  others,  into  the  Council  Chamber,  little 
imagining  the  deep  interest  he  had  in  what  had  transpired.  I 
was  present  during  the  whole  of  the  morning  session,  and  near 
the  parties  at  the  time  of  the  occurrence,  and  thus  a  witness  of 
the  whole  tragedy ;  and  of  all  the  sad  recollections  of  that  event, 
that  which  is  the  most  vivid,  is  the  unutterable  anguish  and 
desolation  of  the  elder  Arndt  when  he  saw  his  son,  so  lately 
full  of  life  and  hope,  lying  on  the  floor,  still  in  death.  As  to 
the  character  of  the  deed,  I  never  had  a  doubt.  The  slayer  had 
been  the  aggressor  from  the  beginning,  and  had  employed  ir¬ 
ritating  and  insulting  language  in  the  course  of  the  debate,  and 
when  called  upon  for  explanation,  met  it  on  the  moment 
against  an  unarmed  man  with  the  deadly  shot. 

“  I  have  mentioned  the  store  of  James  Morrison  as  the  first 
which  was  opened,  and  the  only  one  for  some  time  after  my  ar¬ 
rival  in  Madison.  It  had  been  established  for  the  purpose  of 
affording  supplies  to  the  contractors  and  workmen  on  the  pub¬ 
lic  buildings.  As  his  stock  became  exhausted,  he  neglected  to 
replenish,  and  for  some  time  we  were  dependent  for  our  sup¬ 
plies  upon  a  peddler’s  cart,  which  made  us  an  occasional  visit, 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


187 


with  the  most  needful  articles  of  dry  goods  and  notions  —  the 

proprietor  of  which  was,  if  I  remember  right,  a  Mr.  L - ,  who 

is  now  a  wealthy  hanker  in  a  neighboring  city.  I  believe  1 
have  forgotten  who  started  the  next  store.  It  might  have  been 
J.  D.  Weston,  followed  by  the  Messrs.  Dea;k  and  others.  Of 
course  there  were  not  any  church  buildings  at  that  early  day. 
Before  I  came — two  churches  had  occasional  services,  a  Presby¬ 
terian  and  an  Episcopalian.  The  first  preacher  of  the  former 
was  a  Mr.  Quaw,  who  remained  hut  a  short  time  on  account 
of  ill-health,  and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  E.  Slih gerl and r 
who  effected  a  permanent  organization;  in  A.  D.  1841,  my 
brother,  J.  M.  Clark,  became  pastor  of  the  church,  and  con~ 
continued  with  it  between  two  and  three  years,  when  he  was 
appointed  Chaplain  of  the  post  at  Fort  Winnebago.  The  pas¬ 
tor  of  the  Episcopal  church  was  the  Rev.  Mr.  Philo,  a  very 
kind,  earnest  and  simple-hearted  man;  a  characteristic  anec¬ 
dote  of  whom  I  cannot  resist  the  impulse  to  repeat.  During 
the  sessions  of  the  Legislature,  there  was  (a  common  thing  in 
the  west  in  those  days),  a  good  deal  of  gambling  practiced;  and 
although  severe  laws  had  been  enacted  against  it,  yet  so  little 
attention  was  paid  to  enforcing  them,  that  there  were  several 
places  in  the  town  where  gambling  was  carried  on  in  as  public 
a  manner  as  though  it  had  been  an  ordinary,  innocent  amuse¬ 
ment;  several  members  of  the  Legislature  being  among  the 
most  ardent  of  its  devotees.  In  the  winter  of  1841,  the  la¬ 
dies  of  the  town  took  the  matter  in  hand,  and  made  an 
earnest  and  energetic  effort  for  the  suppression  of  both  gam¬ 
bling  and  drinking.  Through  their  influence,  a  mass  meet¬ 
ing  was  held  in  one  of  the  halls  of  the  Capitol  to  consider  the 
best  means  of  accomplishing  the  desired  object.  Everybody  at¬ 
tended,  citizens,  strangers,  members  of  the  Legislature;  all 
were  there,  men,  women  and  children.  All  sides  of  the  ques¬ 
tions  being  represented,  the  discussions  which  followed  were 
considerably  animated,  some  of  the  speakers  finding  their 
speech  and  their  poise  a  little  too  difficult  from  the  present 
feet  of  having  imbibed  a  little  too  freely  before  going.  It  was 
said,  among  other  things,  that  the  laws  already  passed  were 


188 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


amply  sufficient  to  meet  the  case,  if  honestly  and  faithfully  ad¬ 
ministered,  and  that  the  fault,  if  anywhere,  was  with  the  offi¬ 
cers,  whose  duty  it  was  to  see  to  the  proper  execution  of  the 
laws.  W.  N.  Seymour,  who  was  then,  and  for  years  afterwards, 
justice  of  the  peace,  was  present,  and  taking  the  remark  as  a 
personal  reflection  upon  his  official  integrity,  arose  and  defend¬ 
ed  himself  from  the  charge.  After  he  had  taken  his  seat,  Mr. 
Philo,  or  4  Dominie  1  Philo,  as  he  was  more  commonly  called, 
arose,  and  addressed  the  chair  as  follows :  4  Mr.  Chairman :  I 

arise  to  move  to  make  a  motion.  The  motion  which  I  wish  to 
make,  I  hold  in  my  hand.  I  will  read  the  motion.  4  Motion; 
That  William  N.  Seymouk  is  a  good  and  sufficient  Justice  of 
the  Peace,  and  I  hope  the  motion  will  prevail.’  The  character 
of  the  motion,  together  with  the  earnestness  and  naivete  of 
manner  in  which  it  was  delivered,  was  too  much  for  the  gravity 
of  the  house  to  stand,  and  the  meeting  was  forced  to  adjourn 
amidst  a  perfect  tumult  of  cheering,  without  being  able  again 
to  address  itself  to  the  consideration  of  the  subjects  for  which  it 
had  been  held;  and  Mr.  Seymour’s  right  to  be  considered  4  a 
good  and  sufficient  Justice  of  the  Peace,’  was  no  t  regarded  as 
an  open  question  from  that  time. 

44  I  might  relate  anecdotes  of  other  early  pioneers,  and  recall 
other  experiences;  but  perhaps  I  ought  rather  to  apologize  for 
even  the  personal  sketches  I  have  already  given.  That  which 
may  interest  the  parties  who  participated  in  those  early  inci¬ 
dents  and  experiences,  and  who  find  a  real  pleasure  in  recalling 
them,  can  scarcely  be  supposed  to  awaken  anything  like  the 
same  degree  or  kind  of  interest  in  those  who  only  know  the 
city,  as  what  it  has  since  become.  If  the  city  is  beautiful 
to-day,  with  its  gem  of  a  Capitol,  its  shaded,  clean  kept  streets, 
its  almost  palatial  residences,  and  its  numerous  tidy  homes,  the 
result  of  its  prosperity  and  accumulated  wealth,  it  was  no  less 
beautiful  when  the  log  cabin  of  Abel  Rasdall  overlooked 
the  beautiful  Monona  and  grassy  slope  on  the  shady  woodland 
which  bordered  its  clear  waters.  My  years  of  absence  have  not 
diminished  my  love  for  its  well  remembered  haunts.  There  is 
not  a  spot  of  that  piece  of  earth  which  lies  so  sweetly  between 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


189 


the  waters  of  the  unfolding  Lakes,  which  is  not  endeared  to  me 
h}r  many  an  incident  whose  recollection  is  still  fresh  as  when 
they  transpired.  Nature  and  art  stimulated  by  its  natural 
beauty,  have  both  conspired  to  make  Madison  distinguished  as 
a  most  lovely  city;  and  my  earnest  desire  in  its  behalf  is,  that 
its  citizens  may  ever  be  as  distinguished  for  virtue  and  intelli¬ 
gence,  and  all  that  beautifies  and  ennobles  human  life.11 

1847.  In  the  month  of  February,  the  Wisconsin  Argus  was 
enlarged  to  seven  columns.  Mr.  S.  Mills  retired  from  the  firm, 
and  the  same  changed  to  Tenney,  Smith  &  Holt.  During  the 
Constitutional  Conventions  of  1846  and  1847-8,  the  paper  was 
issued  as  a  tri-weekly. 

At  the  spring  election,  April  6,  the  following  persons  were 
elected  town  officers:  Wm.  C-  Wells,  Chairman;  A.  Rasdall, 
C.  Bushnell,  Supervisors;  J.  R.  Brigham,  Clerk;  D.  Clark, 
Treasurer;  H.  Hill  and  D.  A.  Barnard,  Assessors;  Squire 
Lamb,  Collector;  D.  H.  Wright,  J.  G.  Knapp  and  B.  Holt, 
School  Commissioners;  C.  Bushnell,  A.  Harris  and  G.  M. 
Oakley,  Justices.  Vote  for  State  Constitution  —  ayes,  154; 
nays,  125.  For  suffrage  to  colored  persons  —  ayes,  18  ;  nays, 
176.  A  tax  of  one  per  cent,  was  levied  for  town  pur¬ 
poses.  The  election  for  corporation  officers  was  held  March  ly 
and  the  following  persons  elected  by  a  majority  of  60  over  the 
opposition  ticket:  A.  L.  Collins,  President;  B.  Holt,  C. 
Bushnell,  W.  Pyncheon,  D.  B.  Sneeden,  G.  A.  Cary  and  W. 
Welch,  Trustees;  J.  R.  Brigham,  Clerk;  B.  W.  Wilson^ 
Marshal;  N.  S.  Emmons,  Treasurer;  J.  T.  Wilson,  Assessor. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  held  March  23,  all 
that  portion  of  Dane  county  known  as  the  village  of  Madison, 
was  organized  under  the  name  of  “Madison  Village  School 
District  No.  1.” 

An  enumeration  of  school  children,  taken  March  10,  showed 
that  there  were  142  children  between  the  ages  of  four  and 
twenty.  The  amount  of  school  money  apportioned  the  dis¬ 
trict  was  1232.48.  The  annual  statement  of  the  Board,  made 
for  the  year  ending  October,  1847,  showed  that  two  male  and 
one  female  teachers  were  employed.  School  taught  by  a  male 


190 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


teacher,  nine  months;  and  nineteen  weeks  female  teach¬ 
ers. 

On  the  4th  of  June,  the  Board  of  Supervisors  made  a  report 
of  resources  and  expenditures  to  April .6,  1847:  Whole  amount 
of  receipts,  $3,200.48;  expenditures,  $2,510.82. 

The  Madison  Express,  of  March  23,  referring  to  the  growth 
of  the  village,  says:  “From  present  appearance,  building 
would  be,  this  season,  three-fold  greater  than  in  any  previous 
year.  Among  the  rest,  is  the  brick  academy,  which  is  to  cost 
about  $3,000.  This  building,  to  which  reference  has  been 
made  as  having  received  aid  from  the  State,  was  located  on  lot 
4,  block  82,  corner  of  Wisconsin  avenue  and  Johnson  street. 
In  this  building  the  preparatory  department  of  the  State  Uni¬ 
versity  was  held  soon  after  its  organization.  The  building  was 
demolished  in  May,  1873,  to  make  room  for  the  new  City  High 
School. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  Independent  Order 
of  Odd  Fellows,  held  in  June,  1847,  a  petition  was  received  for 
a  charter  of  a  lodge  to  be  located  at  Madison,  to  be  called 
“Hope  Lodge,  No.  17.”  A  dispensation  was  granted,  and  the 
lodge  instituted  on  the  15th.  The  following  persons  were  the 
charter  members:  P.  G.’s  Charles  Holt,  C.  B.  Chapman,  J. 
Y.  Smith,  Noah  Clemens  and  William  Welch.  C.  B.  Chap¬ 
man,  N.  G.;  J.  Y.  Smith,  V.  G.;  N.  Clemens,  Secretary,  and 
Benjamin  Holt,  Treasurer.  The  first  meeting  was  held  in 
the  brick  building  on  Main  street,  then  known  as  the  “  Argus 
Building.”  Among  the  early  members  of  this  lodge  were  D. 
Vandercook,  Geo.  M.  Oakley,  J.  G.  Knapp,  Jas.  Halpin. 

The  telegraph  was  this  year  set  up  between  Milwaukee  and 
Madison.  A.  C.  Ingham  and  B.  F.  Hopkins  were  the  first  op¬ 
erators  at  Madison. 

The  Convention  which  assembled  here  December  16, 1847,  to 
form  a  State  Constitution,  having  completed  their  work  on  the 
first  of  February,  was,  by  the  vote  of  the  people,  approved  in 
April,  1848,  and  Wisconsin  was  admitted  to  the  Union  on  an 
equal  footing  with  the  other  States,  on  the  29th  of  May. 

The  assessed  valuation  of  the  real  estate  of  the  village,  in 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


191 


1847,  was  $39,116,  and  personal  property,  $8,600;  total,  $47,716. 
Amount  of  tax,  $200.  The  principal  merchants  during  the 
year  were,  E.  B.  Dean,  Jr.,  assessed  $3,500  personal;  Shields 
&  Sneeden,  $2,500;  Nicholas  Smith,  $1,500;  Finch  &  Blan¬ 
chard,  $600;  A.  Boyles  &  Co.,  $400;  R„  Price,  $100. 

July  4th  celebration  was  observed  as  usual.  David  Lambert, 
orator;  D.  B.  Sneeden,  reader;  and  Rev.  Ohas.  Lord,  chap¬ 
lain. 

The  census  of  the  village  was  taken  this  year  by  E.  Burdick, 
whole  number,  1,159,  the  year  previous  it  was  626.  S.  Mills 
advertised,  in  December,  that  he  was  building  a  saw  mill,  and 
wished  to  purchase  1,000  logs. 

The  Argus ,  of  December  14,  says:  u  One  hundred  Indians 
are  encamped  on  the  north  side  of  Lake  Mendota  (Fourth 
Lake),  three  miles  from  this  place,  and  have  been  there  some 
weeks,  and  have  almost  annihilated  the  deer.” 

J.  G.  Knapp,  Superintendent  of  Public  Property,  in  his 
reminiscences  of  Madison,  1846-7,  says: 

“  At  that  time  the  Park  was  more  than  half  covered  with 
hazel  bushes  and  oak  grubs.  The  first  were  destroyed  by  mow¬ 
ing,  and  the  last  were  dug  up.  The  wild  grass  was  succeeded 
by  the  present  grasses,  partly  by  sowing  the  seed,  and  partly 
spontaneous  or  self-sowing.  The  trees  then  were  the  merest 
bush,  were  trimmed  up  to  about  six  feet,  that  being  nearly 
one-half  their  entire  height.  In  1847,  I  contracted  with 
Alex.  McBride,  at  fifty  cents  a  tree,  for  planting  out  the  row 
of  maples  and  elms  next  to  the  Park  fence,  he  agreeing  to  war¬ 
rant  their  growth.  This  was  done  without  authority  of  law, 
and  before  any  appropriation  had  been  made  for  that  purpose. 
That  legislative  body  could  never  have  been  induced  to  make 
such  an  appropriation,  for  the  reason  that  there  was  then  the 
greatest  opposition  to  all  appropriations  for  future  benefit; 
and  because  there  was  at  that  time  a  determination  on  the  part 
of  many  members  to  remove  the  seat  of  government  to  some 
other  place.  It  was  therefore  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that 
the  Legislature  could  be  induced  to  make  an  appropriation  to 
pay  for  those  trees.  I  have  often  asked,  what  price  the  State 


192 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


would  now  fix  upon  those  same  trees?  To  these  small  begin¬ 
nings,  this  assuming  of  responsibility,  I  look  back  and  see 
what  our  beautiful  Park  has  since  become  —  the  ornament  of 
the  most  handsomely  located  city  in  the  Union,  the  brightest 
setting  of  any  Capitol  on  the  continent,  if  not  in  the  world. 
If  it  he  such  now,  when  less  than  half  finished,  what  will  it  be 
in  a  few  years,  after  the  hand  of  the  tasteful  landscape  gardener 
shall  have  brought  to  light  its  innate  loveliness? 

u  Two  other  acts,  the  responsibility  of  doing  which  I  assumed, 
will  he  briefly  noticed.  The  old  Capitol  was,  by  some  strange 
design  of  the  architect,  planned  without  basement  rooms,  al¬ 
though  the  walls  were  about  seven  feet  below  the  base,  and  had 
doors  and  windows  at  each  end.  For  many  years  these  cellars 
formed  sleeping  apartments  for  the  loose  hogs  of  the  town,  and 
not  unfrequently  their  music  was  less  enchanting  than  ^Eolian 
harps,  or  grand  old  organ  tones.  It  struck  me  that  this  por¬ 
tion  of  the  building  could  be  better  employed,  and  as  the  re¬ 
moval  of  some  three  feet  of  earth  in  depth  was  necessary,  I  let 
a  contract  for  that  purpose,  at  twenty  cents  a  yard  square. 
Into  this  space  the  dry  wood  was  transferred,  and  found  mak¬ 
ing  much  less  noise  than  the  hogs  had  made  before.  Soon 
after,  that  portion  of  the  house  having  new  windows  cut  on 
the  sides,  was  made  into  rooms  and  offices,  and  was  thus  used 
until  the  lights  were  darkened  by  the  construction  of  the  new 
building.” 

This  year,  1847,  L.  J.  Farwell,  *  of  Milwaukee,  attracted 

*  Hon.  Leonard  J.  Farwell  was  the  son  of  Capt.  James  Farwell  and  Re¬ 
becca  Cady  his  wife,  and  was  born  at  Watertown,  New  York,  January  5, 
1819.  His  father  died  in  1830  and  his  mother  in  1824.  After  a  short 
experience  as  clerk  in  a  dry  goods  store,  he  became  apprentice  to  a  tin¬ 
smith,  and  followed  that  occupation  until  the  age  of  nineteen.  He  first  re¬ 
moved  toLockport,  Illinois,  with  a  small  stock  of  hardware  and  a  few  tools 
of  his  trade,  and  for  the  time  and  place,  soon  established  a  thriving  busi¬ 
ness.  In  January,  1840,  he  sold  out  his  stock  and  store,  and  removed  to 
the  then  new  village  of  Milwaukee,  in  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin,  and  em¬ 
barked  in  business  on  a  larger  scale,  and  in  a  few  years  was  at  the  head  of 
one  of  the  largest  wholesale  houses  in  the  west.  Ten  years  later,  owing  to 
impaired  health  and  having  secured  a  large  fortune  for  those  days,  he  with- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


193 


by  the  beauty  of  the  location,  and  foreseeing  its  advantages  as 
a  place  of  business,  made  an  extensive  purchase  of  real  estate, 
comprising  a  portion  of  the  village  plat  and  of  lands  lying  ad¬ 
jacent,  which  included  the  unimproved  water  power  between 
lakes  Monona  and  Mendota.  To  the  active  enterprise,  the  lib¬ 
eral  polic}^  and  the  public  spirit  of  this  gentleman,  Madison  is 
largely  indebted  for  her  present  prosperity.  During  the  follow¬ 
ing  winter,  he  commenced  the  improvement  of  the  Madison 
water  power.  The  fall  between  the  lakes  as  taken  by  a  number 
of  engineers,  varied  from  three  feet  ten  inches  to  four  feet 
eleven  inches.  This  variation  was  unquestionably  owing  to  a 
variation  in  the  lakes  at  the  several  times  the  levels  were  taken, 
lake  Monona  being  much  the  smaller,  would  be  more  affected 
by  a  rain  storm  than  the  other.  Among  his  first  works  were 
the  improvements  of  the  water  power  and  the  erection  of  mills 
to  which  attention  has  been  before  given.  His  efforts  at  once 
infused  new  life  into  the  settlement.  Real  estate,  hitherto  al¬ 
most  without  value,  began  to  be  sought  for,  and  to  improve  in 
price.  Streets  were  cleared  of  their  forests,  roads  were  laid  out 

drew  from  mercantile  traffic  to'  engage  in  other  enterprises.  In  1847,  he 
visited  Madison,  and  effected  a  large  purchase  of  village  property,  includ¬ 
ing  the  unoccupied  water  power,  and  soon  after  made  a  trip  to  Europe 
and  Eastern  countries,  returning  in  1849.  On  his  return,  he  began  the  im¬ 
provement  of  the  water  power,  the  erection  of  mills,  the  opening  of 
streets,  draining  of  low  lands,  and  other  measures  designed  to  benefit  the 
village.  In  1851,  he  was  nominated  for  Governor  by  the  Whig  party,  and 
was  elected ;  the  remainder  of  the  state  ticket  was  Democratic. 

Gov.  Farwell  was  married  September  20,  1853,  t°  Miss  Frances  A., 
daughter  of  Gen.  A.  N.  Corss  of  Madison,  formerly  of  Watertown,  New 
York;  she  died  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  April  15,  1868.  The  financial  re¬ 
vulsion  of  1857,  proved  very  severe  on  the  fortunes  of  Gov.  Farwell,  as  he 
was  largely  interested  in  railroad  enterprises,  and  their  value  being  de¬ 
pressed,  he  was  obliged  to  suspend  and  close  up  his  business.  In  the  spring 
of  i863,  he  was  appointed  by  President  Lincoln,  an  assistant  examiner  in  the 
Patent  Office-,  Washington,  and  three  months  later,  was  Principal  Exami¬ 
ner  of  Inventions,  a  position  he  held  for  nearly  seven  years,  when  he  re" 
signed  to  re-embarkin  the’same  business  at  Chicago;  at  thejatter  place,  he 
suffered  by  loss  at  the  great  fire  in  October,  1871.  He  has  sincethat  time 
lived  at  Grant  City,  Worth  county,  Mo. 


194 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


to  the  surrounding  prairies,  bridges  were  built,  the  low  lands 
drained,  road-ways  carried  through  them  and  lined  with  shade 
trees;  and  buildings  and  improvements  of  all  kinds  begun  to  rise 
among  the  trees,  and  dot  the  distant  prairies.  He  matured  a 
comprehensive  system  of  advertising  the  advantages  of  the 
country  abroad,  and  scores  of  thousands  of  pamphlets  filled  with 
valuable  information,  were  spread  all  over  the  eastern  states  and 
Europe. 

Perhaps  no  one  person  did  more  to  promote  the  interests  of 
Madison  than  Mr.,  since  known  as  Gov.  Farwell.  No  import¬ 
ant  interest,  structure,  or  association  was  inaugurated  which  he 
either  did  not  originate  or  contribute  to  its  success  by  his  means 
or  influence.  He  not  only  built  mills,  to  which  allusion  has 
been  made,  but  started  the  first  woolen  factory,  and  the  first 
machine  shop  and  foundry.  He  set  the  example  of  first  grad¬ 
ing  and  filling  streets,  and  building  side  and  cross-walks,  and  in 
the  projected  railroad  enterprises,  designed  to  benefit  Madison, 
he  embarked  heartily  and  liberally.  In  1857,  owing  to  the 
great  financial  difficulties  of  that  year,  he  became  involved  like 
many  others,  and  his  fortunes  seriously  affected.  The  citizens 
of  Madison  will  always  bear  cheeerful  witness  to  the  greatness 
of  his  efforts,  which  had  for  their  object  the  promotion  of  her 
best  interests. 

The  information  relative  to  Gov.  Far  well’s  public  improve¬ 
ments  and  his  private  life  are  taken  from  a  Chicago  Magazine. 

Some  correspondent  furnishes  for  one  of  the  village  papers 
an  account  of  the  first  bell  in  Madison  : 

44  The  advent  of  the  first  bell  in  Madison  marks  a  kind  of 
epoch  in  our  remembrance.  It  was,  if  our  memory  is  not  at 
fault,  in  July,  1847.  The  occasion  which  originated  the  pur¬ 
chase  was  a  political  caucus  held  in  the  April  preceding,  when 
4  hunker  ’  and  4  tadpole  ’  did  rend  and  divide  over  the  large 
vote  of  seventy-two  persons;  all  comprised,  too,  within  the 
limits  of  the  present  town  of  Madison.  Unlike  the  modern 
style  of  caucus,  it  was  thought  respectful  and  decent  to  wait 
until  every  person  had  time  to  attend  and  be  heard,  if  he  desired 
to  be.  The  4  people 1  in  those  days  did  not  see  themselves 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


195 


represented  by  delegates  thrust  in  at  the  moment  before  they 
•could  assemble.  That  practice  is  more  modern.  Well,  at  that 
April  gathering,  the  first  comers  waited  patiently  two  hours; 
and  it  was  found  on  assembling  that  watches  and  clocks  disa¬ 
greed  to  just  that  extent.  To  avoid  another  such  discrepancy, 
the  writer  hereof  suggested  the  purchase  of  a  bell  which  would 
signal  all  alike  on  every  public  occasion,  and  that  a  subscrip¬ 
tion  follow  the  1  scrimmage.1  The  result  was  an  early  appear¬ 
ance  of  Esq.  Seymour,  who  attended  to  1  those  branches,1  with 
the  proper  paper,  which  was  certainly  very  generously  signed , 
and  the  Messrs.  N.  W.  &  E.  B.  Dean,  merchants,  took  it  upon 
themselves  to  furnish  the  k  instrument.1 

“  Sometime  in  July  aforesaid,  about  the  hour  of  noon,  a 
solitary  team,  which  had  wended  its  way  out  from  Milwaukee, 
arrived,  bringing  the  treasure  and  its  hanging  arrangements 
complete  —  reported  at  the  old  Argus  office  —  and  the  teamster 
was  advised  and  assisted  by  the  boys,  to  land  his  load  at  the 
old  (then  new)  Congregational  church,  as  most  likely  to  be  the 
proper  place  for  it  —  no  arrangement  having  been  made  or 
thought  of  as  to  where  it  should  be  placed.  It  was  scarcely  off 
of  the  wagon  before  it  was  suspended  upon  its  iron  frame  on 
the  ground,  and  set  to  ringing. 

u  The  effect  of  its  first  vibrations  upon  the  community  — 
nearty  all  of  whom  were  at  dinner  —  was  in  the  highest  degree 
sensational.  As  the  loud  clear  notes  vibrated  through  the 
adjacent  forest,  and  across  the  clear  spaces,  it  was  as  if  an 
electric  spark  had  thrilled  through  every  household.  Every 
one  rushed  to  greet  the  new-comer,  and  for  an  hour  or  two 
took  turns  in  keeping  it  at  full  swing.  By  a  kind  of  spon¬ 
taneous  effort,  and  without  any  one’s  consent,  it  was  hauled 
up  into  the  little  1  dormitory,1  with  legs  pointed  skyward,  the 
theory  of  which  was  a  steeple;  and  for  several  days  and  nights 
it  seemed  as  if  the  public  would  never  tire  of  the  ringing. 
Indeed,  Esq.  Seymour,  who  was  recognized  chief  in  charge, 
was,  we  almost  suspected,  several  times  victimized  by  some  of 
the  mischievous  boys,  after  the  public  ear  had  got  sore  with 
listening,  and  kept  on  the  trot  at  unseemly  hours,  to  secure  the 
bell  rope,  which  had  a  propensity  to  swing  loose. 


196 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


u  The  sound  of  a  bell  striking  upon  the  ear  when  one  is 
away  from  brick  and  mortar,  or  a  crowd,  is  always  pleasant. 
But  at  that  time,  many  had  not  heard  the  sound  for  years. 

‘  These  valleys  and  rocks  never  heard  ’  the  sound  before.  Its 
deep,  rich  tones  broke  out  suddenly,  when  none  were  expect¬ 
ing  to  hear  them,  like  a  great  wave  of  music,  spreading  far  and 
wide,  over  wood,  lakes  and  prairies  —  reaching  to  the  very  few 
settlers  in  the  country,  some  of  whom  came  in  five  miles  to 
hear  it  rung,  or  ring  it  for  themselves.  It  was  a  sensation  of 
the  time;  and  though  Madison  has  many  good  bells  now,  none 
have  ever  thrilled  the  community  as  this.  Its  tones  are  so 
sweet  and  familiar,  that  we  yet  pause  to  listen  to  it,  singling  it 
out  from  the  others,  even  when  all  are  ringing.  It  marks  an 
era,  and  ought  to  be  treasured  by  some  of  the  churches,  if  it 
has  not  been,  as  the  pioneer  of  its  kind  —  as  it  was  the  first 
whose  tones  vibrated  over  these  hills  and  lakes,  and  heralded 
the  advent  of  that  advancing  multitude  who  now  people  the 
shores,  and  have  marked  the  country  on  all  sides  with  visible 
evidences  of  civilization  and  Christianity. 

“  A  few  weeks  ago  a  notice  was  made  in  some  of  the  papers, 
that  a  bell  was  wanted  for  an  engine  house,  and  a  proposition 
to  buy  one  of  the  church  bells.  W as  this  the  old  one  ?  I  trust 
not.” 

The  First  Baptist  Church  in  Madison  was  organized  Decem¬ 
ber  23,  1847,  composed  of  twenty  constituent  members.  Rev. 
H.  W.  Read  became  the  first  pastor;  he  resigned  in  March,  1849, 
when  he  went  out  as  pioneer  minister  to  New  Mexico.  In 
October,  1849,  Rev.  John  Williams  was  chosen  pastor,  but 
resigned  the  February  ensuing,  and  in  the  summer  of  1851, 
Rev.  S.  S.  Whitman,*  formerly  professor  in  Hamilton  Insti¬ 
tute,  New  York,  came  from  Belvidere,  Ill.,  and  became  pastor 
of  the  church;  but  his  labors  were  of  brief  duration.  He  died 

*Rev.  S.  S.  Whitman  was  born  at  Shaftsbury,  Vt.,  in  1803.  He  was 
educated  at  Hamilton  Literary  and  Theological  Institute,  New  York,  and 
graduated  at  Hamilton  College.  After  which  he  was  called  to  the  chair 
of  Biblical  Interpretation,  in  the  first  named  institution.  He  held  this  po¬ 
sition  for  seven  years,  and,  in  1836,  removed  to  Belvidere,  Ill.,  where  he 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


197 


after  a  short  illness,  on  the  2d  of  January,  1852.  The  history 
of  this  church  will  be  hereafter  continued. 

H.  A.  Tenney  erected  his  two-story  frame  dwelling  house 
on  Washington  avenue,  near  Carroll  street,  on  lot  3,  block  74, 
and  was,  as  he  says,  the  first  settler  southwest  of  the  Capitol 
square,  except  Henry  Gullion’s  house,  next  to  Grace  Church. 
All  the  lots  in  that  portion  of  the  village  were  covered  with 
trees  or  brush. 

Daniel  Baxter,  in  the  fall  of  this  year,  laid  the  foundation 
of  the  brick  dwelling  house  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Carroll 
streets,  which  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  elegant  private 
residences  in  the  village  at  that  time.  The  building  was  com¬ 
pleted  in  1848.  This  property  was  subsequently  sold  to  N.  W. 
Dean,  Esq.,  who  occupied  it  for  a  number  of  years,  when  it 
was  taken  down,  and  the  site  improved  by  the  erection  of  the 
Park  Hotel.  Mr.  Baxter  was  then  engaged  in  merchandising 
on  King  street.  His  claim  on  the  State  for  balance  due  on 
building  the  old  Capitol  has  a  State  reputation,  and  was  regu¬ 
larly  brought  before  the  Legislature  yearly.  The  old  gentle¬ 
man  has  since  died,  and  his  claim  is  still  unsettled. 

Until  the  year  1848,  the  growth  of  the  village  was  slow, 
and  many  causes  operated  to  retard  its  progress.  Imme¬ 
diately  after  the  location  of  the  capital,  all  the  lands  in  the  vi¬ 
cinity  were  entered  by  speculators  and  non-residents,  and  lots 
and  lands  were  held  at  a  prospective  value  —  much  higher  than 
they  have  reached  at  any  time  since.  Many  years,  and  many 
vicissitudes  were  to  be  passed,  however,  before  settlers  gained 
much  foothold.  It  was  a  hamlet  in  the  midst  of  a  mighty 
waste  of  natural  fertility,  and  for  a  long  period  all  supplies  had 
to  be  wagoned  for  a  distance  of  a  hundred  miles  on  either 
hand.  It  was  not,  indeed,  until  about  this  date,  that  the  ad¬ 
vancing  settlers  from  east  and  west  met  midway,  and  com¬ 
menced  the  wonderful  change  which  transferred  the  country 

preached  ten  years,  as  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church.  In  June,  1851,  he 
assumed  the  charge  of  the  church  at  Madison,  Wis.,  and  continued  in  that 
office  until  his  death,  January  2,  1852.  He  was  then  in  the  fiftieth  year  of 
his  age. 


198 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


into  the  garden  and  granary  it  has  since  become.  The  location 
being  at  a  central  point  between  the  Mississippi  and  Lake 
Michigan,  the  advancing  army  of  immigrants,  on  either  hand, 
found  a  wide,  fertile  and  beautiful  extent  of  country,  at  that 
time  nearer  market,  and  therefore  holding  out  superior  attrac¬ 
tions  to  the  agriculturist.  They  did  not,  consequently,  care  to 
indulge  the  speculator’s  appetite  for  fancy  prices.  In  the  mean¬ 
time,  the  fertile  valley  of  the  Rock  river  had  been  filled  with 
settlers,  and  immigration  began  to  turn  into  Dane  county, 
which  possesses  a  soil  as  bountiful,  and  a  surface  as  attractive 
as  any  county  in  the  State,  hut  which,  before  it  was  tapped  by 
railroads,  was  too  far  from  market  to  render  the  cultivation  of 
the  soil  remunerative. 

The  beginning  of  the  real  prosperity  and  growth  of  Madison 
commenced  with  the  admission  of  the  State  into  the  Union  in 
1848.  The  Constitutional  Convention  then  permanently  lo¬ 
cated  the  capital  here.  Until  this  time  there  had  been  fears  of 
its  removal,  and  capitalists  had  hesitated  to  invest  their  money 
in  the  vicinity. 

Since  that  period,  its  progress  in  wealth  and  population  has 
been  rapid  and  constant.  u  A  great  many  efforts  have  been 
made  to  depict  the  beauties  of  Madison,  but  no  words  can  con¬ 
vey  an  adequate  idea  of  what  is,  indeed,  indescribable.  The 
reason  of  this  is  that  every  new  point  of  observation  creates  a 
shifting  panorama  —  that  no  two  exhibit  the  same  scenery. 
From  any  considerable  elevation,  a  circuit  of  near  thirty  miles 
in  every  direction  is  visible.  Four  lakes  lie  embosomed  like 
gems,  shining  in  the  midst  of  groves  of  forest  trees,  while  the  gen¬ 
tle  swells  of  the  prairies,  dotted  over  by  fields  and  farms,  lend  a 
charm  to  the  view  which  words  cannot  depict.  From  the  dome 
of  the  Capitol  to  the  dome  of  the  State  University,  the  whole 
bearing  and  aspect  of  the  country  is  so  changed  as  scarcely  to 
be  recognized  as  identical.  On  the  west,  the  lofty  peak  of  the 
West  Blue  Mound,  twenty-five  miles  away,  towers  up  against 
the  sky,  like  a  grim  sentinel  guarding  the  gateway  toward  the 
setting  sun,  while  the  intermediate  setting  is  filled  in  with 
swelling  hills,  majestic  slopes,  levels  and  valleys  of  rivers  and 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


199 


rivulets.  Madison  is  the  center  of  a  circle  whose  natural  beau¬ 
ties  compass  all  that  is  charming  to  the  eye,  grateful  to  the 
senses,  pleasing  to  the  imagination,  and  which,  from  its  vari¬ 
ety  and  perfection,  never  grows  tedious  or  tiresome  to  the  spec¬ 
tator.  The  good  taste  of  the  citizens  has  preserved  the  native 
forest  trees,  so  that  its  dwellings  are  embowered  in  green,  and 
buried  in  foliage  in  the  proper  season,  to -that  extent  that  the 
whole  city  cannot  he  seen  from  any  point  of  view.  It  is,  in 
itself,  unique,  like  its  surroundings,  and  the  transient  traveler 
gains  no  conception  of  the  place  by  barely  passing  through  it.,r 

A  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  the  town  was  held,  March  11, 
1848,  of  which  Geo.  H.  Slaughter  was  President;  W.  A. 
Wheeler,  Geo.  Thompson  and  J.  K.  Porter  of  Rock  county, 
were  Vice-Presidents,  and  R.  L.  Ream,  Secretary.  A  resolu¬ 
tion  was  adopted,  “  that  it  is  expedient  to  build  a  railroad  from 
Madison  to  Janesville  to  intersect  the  Galena  and  Chicago  Rail¬ 
road.”  In  the  month  of  April,  1848,  an  exciting  trial  took 
place  before  Judge  D.  Irwin  of  the  United  States  District 
Court,  the  case  of  the  United  States  vs.  Jacob  Gross  for  the 
murder  of  Charles  Kohlman,  in  which  Chauncey  Abbott  and 
Geo.  B.  Smith  were  counsel  for  the  government,  and  A.  L.  Col¬ 
lins  and  Thos.  W.  Sutherland  for  the  defense.  The  jury 
brought  in  a  verdict  of  u  not  guilty.” 

Assessed  valuation  of  village  property,  1848,  was — Real, 
$48,803;  Personal,  $12,850— Total,  $61,653;  Tax,  $308.26. 
The  corporation  officers  for  this  year  were:  A.  L.  Collins, 
President;  J.  C.  Fairchild,  J.  P.  Mann,  C.  Abbott,  Wm. 
Pyncheon,  H.  C.  Parker,  D.  Mallo,  Trustees;  J.  R.  Brigham, 
Clerk;  Alfred  Main,  Assessor,  and  I.  W.  Bird,  Treasurer. 
Mr.  Brigham  served  as  clerk  of  the  Board  from  April  1846,  to 
June,  1851. 

In  pursuance  of  a  requirement  of  the  new  State  Constitution, 
the  first  State  Legislature  held  on  the  summer  of  1848,  vested 
the  government  of  the  “  University  of  Wisconsin  ”  in  a  Board 
of  Regents,  to  consist  of  a  President  and  twelve  members  to  be 
elected  by  the  Legislature,  and  hold  office  for  the  term  of  six 
years.  This  legislature  also  located  the  University  in  Dane 


200 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  ARD  THE 


county,  and  appointed  a  commission  for  the  sale  of  the  Univers¬ 
ity  lands,  and  the  investment  of  the  proceeds. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Regents  was  held  October 
7,  1848,  at  which  time  it  was  decided  to  open  a  Preparatory 
Department  for  the  reception  of  pupils,  in  February,  1849. 
John  W.  Steeling  was  elected  Professor  of  Mathematics,  and 
appointed  to  take  charge  of  the  Preparatory  Department  at  the 
time  designated.  The  present  site  was  selected  and  the  purchase 
consummated  the  following  year.  The  tract  which  was  pur¬ 
chased  of  A.  Vandeepoel,  was  the  N.  W.  1-4  of  section  23, 
town  7,  range  9,  except  block  9  of  the  village  of  Madison. 
The  price  stipulated  was  $5  per  acre,  and  the  taxes  of  1849. 
At  the  same  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Regents,  John,  H.  Lath- 
eop,  LL.  D.,  was  elected  Chancellor,  and  his  salary  fixed  at 
$2,000. 

The  Madison  Express ,  which  had  been  published  by  W.  W. 
Wyman,  was  purchased  October  9,  1848,  b}7  David  Atwood 
and  Royal  Buck,  and  its  publication  resumed  under  the  title 
of  44  Wisconsin  Express ,”  and  was  published  until  Junel,  1852, 
during  a  portion  of  which  time,  Alvin  E.  Bovay  was  associated 
with  the  publishers.  During  the  session  of  the  Legislature  in 
1852  it  was  issued  as  a  daily. 

Proposals  were  advertised  to  be  received  for  the  erection  of 
the  Methodist  church,  to  be  built  of  brick,  36  by  50  feet,  on  the 
corner  of  Mitfiin  and  Pinckney  streets,  to  be  left  with  Benj. 
Holt. 

There  was  no  celebration  on  the  4th  of  July  at  this  place;  one 
was  held  at  the  village  of  Cambridge,  and  many  of  the  residents 
of  Madison  participated  in  it. 

The  annual  town  meeting  of  1848,  was  held  April  4.  Wm. 
C.  Wells  was  elected  Chairman  of  Board  of  Supervisors,  C.  M. 
Rouse  and  N.  S.  Emmons,  Supervisors;  R.  L.  Ream,  Town 
Clerk;  A.  Teed  way,  Alfeed  Main  and  S.  M.  Van  Bee- 
gen,  Assessors;  D.  B.  Sneeden,  Treasurer;  B.  F.  Lar¬ 
kin,  Collector;  A.  E.  Beooks,  D.  A.  Baenaed  and  D.  Lae- 
kin,  Highway  Commissioners;  B.  Holt,  J.  Nelson  and  D.  H. 
Weight,  School  Commissioners;  A.  Bishop,  Alfeed  Main  and 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


201 


J.  D.  Welch,  Constables;  J.  Y.  Smith,  Sealer,  W.  N.  Seymour 
and  Abeam  Ogden,  Justices  of  the  Peace.  The  total  amount 
of  expenditures  for  the  year  ending  April  2,  was  $1,941.59,  and 
the  receipts,  $1,371.10.  Total  indebtedness,  $570.40. 

The  firm  of  Shields  &  Sneeden,  in  1848,  built  a  brick  store 
on  Main  street,  facing  the  public  square.  This  building  was 
subsequently  occupied  by  Wm.  C.  Wells,  J.  P.  Mann,  Don¬ 
aldson  &  Teed  way,  in  1850,  and  was  by  the  latter  firm  occu¬ 
pied  until  the  fall  of  1864.  In  the  spring  of  1865,  it  was  sold 
to  McKay  &  Bro’s,  for  $15,500;  the  lot  being  33  feet  front. 

D.  B.  Sneeden  built  a  two  story  residence  on  Carroll  street 
corner  of  Dayton,  which  was  sold  afterwards  to  Dr.  A.  J.  Ward, 
and  is  now  owned  by  F.  J.  Lamb. 

The  corporation  officers  elected  in  1849  were  A.  L.  Collins, 
President;  J.  R.  Brigham,  Secretary;  A.  Viall,  Treasurer,  S. 
Mills,  G.  M.  Oakley,  J.  T.  Clark,  N.  S.  Emmons,  J.  D.  Rug- 
gles,  D.  H.  Weight,  Trustees;  A.  Ogden,  Assessor;  Thos. 
Reynolds,  Marshal. 

The  tax  of  May  30,  shows  the  assessed  value  of  real  estate, 
$62,674;  personal  property,  $25,000;  total,  $87,674.  Tax, 
$434.37. 

The  corporation  and  school  tax  was  $4,964.41.  The  mer¬ 
chants  who  were  assessed  on  the  stock  of  goods  were  Tibbits 
&  Gordon,  Seymour  &  Varney  and  Lewis  &  Wright,  each  as¬ 
sessed  at  $4,500.  The  others  were  J.  C.  Fairchild,  W.  C. 
Wells,  T.  Reynolds,  S.  F.  Honn,  H.  G.  Bliss,  Smith  &  Tred- 
way,  A.  Boyles  and  Dean  &  Co. 

In  the  spring  of  this  year,  Mr.  Farwell  commenced  making 
permanent  improvements  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Mendota,  and  a 
dam  was  built  across  the  outlet,  and  the  water  in  the  lake  raised 
about  two  feet.  The  Yaharaor  Catfish  stream  which  connects  the 
lake,  being  very  circuitous,  and  its  channel  obstructed  by  logs  and 
brush  wood,  a  straight  canal  was  cut  from  one  lake  to  the 
other.  Lake  Monona  has  since  been  lowered  one  foot  by  re¬ 
moving  obstructions,  rendering  the  water  power  of  much  value. 
Lake  Mendota  forms  a  reservoir  of  water  so  extensive  that  the 
longest  drought  ever  known  in  the  country  would  not  affect  it 
materially. 


14 


202 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


During  the  summer,  a  long  building  was  erected  at  the  out¬ 
let  with  a  saw  mill  on  one  end,  and  two  runs  of  stone  on  the 
other  for  grist  work.  Tibbits  &  Gordon’s  brewery  was  erected 
the  same  season  just  below  the  mill.  The  Court  House  was  com¬ 
menced  on  lot  2,  block  68,  on  Main  street,  corner  of  Fairchild 
street,  and  the  walls  completed  the  next  summer,  and  it  is 
probably  the  best  county  building  (except  that  of  Milwaukee), 
in  the  State. 

On  the  30th  of  January,  1849,  the  State  Historical  Society 
was  organized  at  Madison.  A  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Madi¬ 
son  and  from  other  parts  of  the  state  met,  the  evening  previous, 
at  the  American  Hotel,  at  which  time  it  was  resolved  to  call  a 
general  meeting  at  the  Senate  Chamber  on  the  30th.  At  this 
meeting,  Prof.  Eleazar  Root  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  Gen. 
Wm.  R.  Smith  chosen  Secretary.  A  constitution  was  formed 
and  adopted,  and  signed  by  all  those  present,  after  which  the 
Society  proceeded  to  the  election  of  officers.  Nelson  Dewey, 
the  Governor  of  the  State,  was  chosen  President;  I.  A.  Lap- 
ham,  Corresponding  Secretary,  and  Rev.  Charles  Lord,  Re¬ 
cording  Secretary.  One  Vice  President  was  also  chosen  for 
each  of  the  twenty-five  counties  then  organized.  The  Society 
held  annual  meetings,  at  which  able  historic  discourses  were  de¬ 
livered  by  Gen.  Wm.  R.  Smith,  Hon.  Morgan  L.  Martin  and 
Dr.  N.  L.  Wood,  but  during  the  first  five  years  of  its  existence 
it  accomplished  next  to  nothing  in  the  way  of  historical  col¬ 
lections  or  a  library,  so  little,  that  in  1854,  the  library  contained 
only  fifty  volumes,  and  all  but  three  of  these  were  state  laws, 
journals  and  documents,  and  were  deposited  in  a  small  book¬ 
case  three  by  four  feet.  The  Society  was  subsequently  re-or¬ 
ganized,  and  under  the  energetic  and  untiring  efforts  of  Hon. 
Lyman  C.  Draper,  its  corresponding  Secretary,  became  very 
successful.  Its  subsequent  history  will  be  noticed  hereafter. 

At  a  special  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Regents .  of  the  State 
University,  November  21,  1849,  the  several  chairs  of  instruc¬ 
tion  were  established  and  defined,  action  was  taken  with  a  view 
to  securing  a  cabinet  of  Natural  Science  and  a  Normal  Depart¬ 
ment  instituted,  in  which  instruction  was  required  to  be  given 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


203 


to  teachers’  classes  during  five  months  in  the  year.  At  the 
time  designated  by  the  board  at  a  previous  meeting,  Prof.  J. 
W.  Sterling  opened  the  Preparatory  School  in  the  building 
owned  by  the  Madison  Academy,  opposite  the  Presbyterian 
church  on  Wisconsin  avenue. 

o 

John-  Nelson,  R.  T.  Dayis  and  Andrus  Viall  were  elected 
Supervisors  at  the  election  in  April,  1849;  R.  L.  Ream,  Town 
Clerk;  D.  H.  Wright,  Superintendent  of  Schools;  Newton 
Emmons,  Assessor;  M.  G.  Van  Bergen,  Treasurer;  Wm.  Welch, 
A.  Ogden  and  D.  H.  Wright,  Justices  of  the  Peace.  Some 
business  changes  in  the  town  are  noticed  this  year.  P.  H.  Van 
Bergen  and  Wm.  Welch  carried  on  the  Madison  Hotel.  Tib- 
bits  &  Gordon  purchased  the  stock  of  D.  Baxter,  and  Sey¬ 
mour  &  Varney  were  engaged  in  business. 

An  anniversary  of  the  organization  of  the  Dane  County 
Bible  Society  was  held  May  29,  and  officers  elected,  viz:  John 
Y.  Smith  President;  J.  T.  Cla.rk,  Vice  President;  Benj.  Holt,. 
Secretary,  and  H.  G.  Bliss,  Treasurer  and  Depositor. 

On  the  7th  of  June,  a  temperance  celebration  was  held,  and 
an  address  delivered  by  Rev.  A.  C.  Barry. 

The  annual  town  meeting  was  held  on  the  3d  of  April,  1849, 
and  it  was  voted  $400  be  raised  for  the  support  of  schools,  and 
$1,500  for  general  purposes.  At  a  special  town  meeting  held  on 
May  19,  this  amount  was  changed  to  three  mills  on  the  dollar 
valuation.  At  the  meeting  in  April,  John  Nelson  was  elected 
Chairman  of  Board  of  Supervisors,  Andrus  Viall  and  R.  T. 
Davis,  Supervisors;  R.  L.  Ream,  Clerk;  Nelson  Emmons,  As¬ 
sessor;  M.  G.  Van  Bergen,  Treasurer;  D.  H.  Wright,  Super¬ 
intendent  of  Schools;  and  A.  Ogden,  D.  II.  Wright  and  Wm. 
Welch,  Justices  of  the  Peace;  A.  Main,  A.  Rasdall  and  H. 
Carman,  Constables.  At  the  special  meeting,  G.  P.  Delaplaine, 
was  elected  Assessor,  who  failing  to  qualify,  R.  L.  Ream,  was 
chosen  to  fill  the  vacancy.  The  resources  of  the  town  for  the 
year  ending  April  2,  1850,  were  $3,343.41,  and  the  expenditures 
$2,831.65;  balance  on  hand,  $511.76. 

John  Nelson,  in  1849,  built  the  addition  to  the  present  resi¬ 
dence  of  Hon.  Andrew  Proudfit,  on  Washington  avenue. 


204 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


CHAPTER  YI. 

Hyer’s  Reminiscences  of  Covalle,  Pinneo,  Ubeldeen,  Tom  Jackson, 
Judges  Frazer  and  Iryin  —  Knapp’s  Notice  of  Irvin  —  A  Leaf  of 
Western  History  —  University  Property  and  Improvements  — 
Elections,  1850-3  —  Gov.  Farwell’s  Improvements  —  Schools, 
1850-3  —  Newspapers  —  Madison  Mutual  Insurance  Company — 
Fourth  of  July  —  Presbyterian  Church  Organization  and 
History  —  Capitol  House  —  Public  Improvements,  1852-4 — Bap¬ 
tist  Church  Erected —  R.  Catholic  Church  —  Madison  Institute 
—  Opening  of  Railroad  to  Milwaukee  —  Bruen’s  Block  —  Lake 
Side  Water  Cure  —  Statistics. 

The  articles  that  follow  were  written  by  the  late  Hon.  Geo. 
Hyer  and  published  in  the  Madison  Union  some  years  since. 
They  are  republished,  as  they  furnish  an  interesting  series  of 
sketches  of  frontier  men  who  were  at  Madison  in  early  days: 

“  Old  Coyalle,  the  fisherman,  hunter,  trapper,  etc.,  was  the 
only  white  man  found  on  the  present  site  of  Madison  when  it 
was  first  visited  by  Col.  A.  A.  Bird,  in  the  spring  of  1837. 
Coyalle  was  a  Canadian  of  French  extraction,  and  a  fair  type 
of  the  early  voyageurs  and  adventurers  who  penetrated  the  wilds 
of  the  northwest  in  search  of  furs,  and  whose  natural  affinities 
made  them  at  home  among  the  wild  men  of  the  forest.  Born 
and  bred  among  the  half-civilized  border-men,  he  pressed  back 
into  the  wilderness  as  the  tide  of  civilization  rolled  on  its 
western  course,  occupying  the  ground  so  reluctantly  relin¬ 
quished  by  the  red  men  and  their  ready  associates,  the 
trappers  and  traders,  whose  occupation  followed  in  the  train 
of  the  receding  red  men;  and  with  the  fading  forests  dis¬ 
appeared  entirely  from  the  regions  which  but  a  few  years 
before  were  known  to  the  world  only  as  the  hunting  grounds 
from  which  came  the  rich  furs  so  universally  admired  in 
civilized  life.  Covalle  was  the  descendant  of  a  Hudson  Bay 
trapper,  [and  followed  the  movements  of  his  family,  and  for 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


205 


many  years  thereafter  was  in  the  employ  of  a  fur  company  as 
a  trapper,  spending  years  in  the  wilds  north  of  the  St.  Mary’s 
river,  returning  to  the  trading  establishments  only  at  stated 
seasons  to  bring  in  his  furs  and  obtain  supplies.  Nothing 
pleased  him  more  than  the  opportunity  of  recounting  his 
adventures  and  4  hair  breadth  escapes 1  among  the  men  of  the 
wilderness  in  which  he  had  spent  so  much  of  his  early  life. 
Tired  of  this  wild  life,  he  left  the  employ  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company,  and  commenced  operations  for  himself,  trapping 
along  the  streams  emptying  into  Green  Bay,  falling  back  as 
civilization  advanced  —  giving  up  his  cabin  to  villages,  and 
his  trapping  resorts  to  lumbermen.  Following  up  the  Fox 
river,  he  kept  in  advance  of  the  settlements,  gathering  in  the 
little  game  that  lingered  along  the  line,  until  he  was  forced  to 
abandon  the  vicinity  of  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  rivers,  and  find 
hunting  grounds  away  from  the  business  routes  of  white  men. 
Taking  his  Indian  woman,  and  his  small  family  of  half-breed 
children,  with  his  ever  present  companion  ‘Alex.,  the  fisher 
boy,’  he  came  across  the  country  to  the  chain  of  lakes,  then  in 
the  undisturbed  possession  of  the  Indians,  and  built  a  cabin  on 
the  ground  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Rodermuxd  as  a  brewery,  at 
the  outlet  of  Lake  Mendota.  Here  he  was  found  by  the  men 
who  came  to  lay  the  foundation  of  the  capital  of  a  new  state, 
and  here  he  remained  until  tired  of  his  surroundings,  and  long¬ 
ing  for  the  quiet  of  the  wilderness,  he,  with  his  little  family, 
left  to  join  his  old  associates  who  had  been  transferred  to  the 
wilds  west  of  the  Mississippi.  Covalle,  though  illiterate,  was 
a  companionable,  good  natured  man,  and  interesting  in  the 
long  stories  he  used  to  tell  of  the  happy  life  he  led  in  the 
country  before  it  was  taken  possession  of  by  the  white  man. 
He  tried  hard  to  accustom  himself  to  the  usages  of  civilized 
life,  but  it  was  unnatural  to  him,  and  the  attempt  only  made 
more  apparent  the  force  of  early  habits.  Learning  that  white 
men  married,  he  brought  his  Indian  woman  before  a  justice  of 
the  peace  that  his  own  marriage  might  be  solemnized  in  the 
presence  of  his  children,  a  proceeding  which  was  important  to 
them  only  as  it  conformed  to  the  customs  of  white  men.  He 


206 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


would  send  to  Dr.  Lull,  the  village  physician,  to  treat  com¬ 
plaints  that  would  be  thought  nothing  of  in  his  former 
solitary  life,  simply  because  white  men  employed  the  Dr., 
and  many  a  joke  came  back  to  the  settlement,  of  Covalle’s 
efforts  to  bring  his  half-breed  family  under  allopathic  treat¬ 
ment,  and  ludicrous  enough  were  the  attempts  of  the  family 
to  adapt  some  article  of  clothing,  the  gift  of  white  people,  to 
their  native  costume  of  buckskin  and  blanket.  The  ‘first 
families’  of  Madison  will,  no  doubt,  remember  the  curiosity 
with  which  Madam  Coyalle  and  her  children  looked  in  upon 
them  through  the  windows  of  their  houses,  refusing  to  enter 
the  dwellings,  and  with  what  interest  they  would  gather  at  the 
doors  to  witness  the  proceedings  of  the  meetings  on  Sunday; 
but  these  things  are  now  past,  and  we  must  dismiss  the  subject, 
conscious  of  having  said  but  little  that  will  do  more  than  bring 
back  the  almost  forgotten  name  of  Coyalle.” 

“  None  but  the  ‘  oldest  inhabitant1  of  Madison  will  remem¬ 
ber  Plnaleo,  and  little  was  known  of  him  even  by  them.  He 
was  a  vagabond  naturally,  and  a  long  life  of  dissipation  had 
confirmed  him  in  all  his  vagabond  notions  and  habits.  Phytveo 
came  to  Madison  among  the  first,  and  commenced  work  as  a 
shingle  maker,  or  4  shingle  weaver,1  as  he  styled  himself.  He 
built  a  hut  in  the  woods,  near  the  outlet  of  Lake  Mendota,  and 
when  sober,  used  to  retire  to  it  and  weave  shingles,  for  which  the 
new  settlement  offered  a  ready  market.  He  was  a  queer  looking 
object;  a  tall,  round  shouldered,  large  nosed,  grey  eyed  chap, 
never  wearing  any  clothing,  in  pleasant  or  foul  weather,  save 
a  pair  of  coarse  breeches  and  a  red  shirt.  He  claimed  to  be  a 
Yankee,  but  had  coasted  so  long  up  and  down  western  rivers, 
and  had  imbibed  so  much  poor  whisky,  that  he  had  in  appear¬ 
ance  and  manner  nothing  to  indicate  a  ‘  down  east 1  origin. 
His  cabin  was  a  mere  shelter  —  open  in  front,  and  furnished 
with  no  article  of  comfort  or  convenience  save  one  or  two 
common  cooking  utensils,  and  the  tools  most  necessary  to  his 
business  in  shingle  making.  Though  orderly  and  quiet  enough 
when  sober,  he  was  the  opposite  to  it  when  drunk;  and  when 
Pinneo  took  it  into  his  head  to  be  agreeable,  no  place  or  com- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


207 


pany  was  free  from  intrusion.  He  was  not  a  very  agreeable 
caller  —  liis  long,  gaunt  form,  bare  head  and  feet,  and  disgust¬ 
ingly  dirty  appearance  were  anything  but  agreeable,  still  they 
had  to  be  endured,  as  the  possessor  of  these  qualities  was  none 
other  than  Mr.  Piuheo,  who  had  a  laugh  and  a  joke  for  every 
one,  and  who  was  ever  ready  to  do  the  bidding  of  those  choos¬ 
ing  to  command  his  services.  When  sober,,  which  was  only 
when  every  artifice  and  cunning  had  failed  to  provide  the 
means  of  getting  drunk,  he  would  retire  to  his  cabin,  work 
steadily  and  quietly  until  a  customer  came  for  shingles,  for 
which  terms  of  payment  were  positive  —  cash  down.  When 
once  in  possession  of  money,  there  was  no  more  work  in  Prsr- 
neo,  who  would,  by  a  more  direct  route  reach  town  in  time  to 
get  glorious  long  before  the  purchaser  made  his  appearance 
with  the  shingles.  After  he  had  endured  a  week’s  drunk,  his 
ved  face  and  bare  breast  shone  in  the  sun  with  a  peculiar  bril¬ 
liancy,  and  he  was  a  sight  as  seen  in  the  morning  after  a  night’s 
lodging  under  a  tree,  or  under  some  outhouse  shelter,  as  he 
shook  himself  and  started  for  his  morning  potation  at  the 
nearest  drinking  house.  He  had  not  worn  shoes  for  years,  and 
in  his  drunken  frolics  he  had  acquired  the  habit  of  kicking  out 
grubs  and  roots  with  his  bare  toes.  This  he  was  often  induced 
to  do  for  a  drink,  and  many  was  the  grub  kicked  out  of  King 
street  by  Pinheo,  long  before  Nicholson  pavement  or  the  of¬ 
fice  of  Street  Commissioner  was  thought  of.  His  feet  looked, 
in  shape  and  color,  like  mud  turtles,  and  his  toes  resembled  so 
many  little  turtle  heads  half  drawn  in,  so  bruised  and  battered 
were  they  by  hard  usage.  Pustkeo,  when  drunk,  would  occa¬ 
sionally  have  serious  thoughts,  and  sometimes  expressed  seri¬ 
ous  doubts  as  to  the  propriety  of  his  course  of  life.  His  boon 
companion  was  one  Butterfield,  of  whom  we  will  say  more 
by  and  by.  When  the  first  minister  visited  Madison,  and 
called  the  good  people  together  on  Sunday,  Peoteo  was  among 
the  first  present.  He  listened  attentively  to  the  opening  ser¬ 
vices,  and  when  the  minister  began  to  speak  of  a  better  life 
than  men  were  leading  in  the  new  country,  Pinheo  very  de¬ 
liberately  rose  from  his  seat  and  electrified  the  small  audience 


208 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


by  saying,  ‘That’s  so,  Mr.  Philo,  that’s  so.  Butterfield’s 
got  to  be  saved;  and  you  just  hold  on  till  I  bring  him  in.T 
Upon  which  he  stalked  out  of  the  room;  but,  failing  to  find 
his  chum,  neglected  himself  to  return. 

“  Pinheo  had  but  little  to  commend  him,  even  to  a  passing 
notice;  still  he  was  a  type  of  many  vagabond  frontier  men, 
who,  whatever  their  origin,  accomplished  nothing  useful  in  life. 
They  generally  lived  and  died  wretchedly,  as  did  this  Pihheo, 
who  lost  his  life  in  a  miner’s  cabin,  his  clothes  taking  fire 
while  he  was  on  one  of  his  drunken  frolics.” 

“  The  other  day,”  says  Mr.  Hyer,  “  we  were  shown  through 
the  sale-room  of  Messrs.  Bird  &  Ledwith’s  establishment,  and 
looked  upon  the  rows  of  beautiful  carriages,  elegantly  lined 
and  so  richly  ornamented,  all  bespeaking  a  wide  departure 
from  the  olden  but  joyous  time  when  we  went  a-riding  along 
the  by-ways  and  over  the  unbroken  grounds  that  led  us  where- 
ever  we  chose  to  go,  before  the  streets  of  Madison  were  walled 
with  brick,  in  old  Ubeldeen’s  one-horse  cart  —  the  first  pleas¬ 
ure  carriage  brought  to  the  capital  city.  That  was  long  before 
Bird  &  Ledwith  thought  of  building  carriages  —  long  before 
Uorh  or  Kehtzler  thought  of  providing  the  splendid  ‘turn¬ 
outs  ’  that  come  from  their  stables,  and  roll  so  elegantly  along  the 
Nicholsoh  pavement  —  but  not  long  enough  to  beget  forget¬ 
fulness  in  the  memory  of  those  who,  jvith  merry  laugh  and  in 
youthful  glee,  used  to  go  jolting  along  in  the  one-horse  ‘gig,’ 
as  we  called  the  old  Frenchman’s  cart.  Wonder  if  our  then 
young  boy  and  girl  companions  have  forgotten  the  time  when 
we  used  to  go  a  berrying,  and  when  it  was  only  necessary  to 
‘say  the  word’  to  ensure  a  cartload  of  as  merry  romps  as  ever 
perplexed  the  hearts  of  boys  for  a  berrying  expedition,  or  a 
frolic  among  the  groves  that  bordered  our  beautiful  lakes. 
That  was  a  funny  old  cart,  and  would  not  answer  for  now-a- 
days;  but  we  were  not  so  refined  and  particular  then.  There 
were  no  eyes  to  please  but  our  own,  and  ‘who  cared?’  Ubel- 
deeh,  the  pnvied  proprietor  of  the  ‘gig,’ was  a  Frenchman, 
and  this  vehicle  came  with  him  from  the  Canadas.  It  was  of 
the  olden  style,  such  as  may  be  seen  in  the  French  towns  —  a 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


209 


two-wheeled,  cart-shaped  affair  —  having  a  light  box,  was  with¬ 
out  springs,  and  open  behind  for  the  entree  and  exit  of  passen¬ 
gers.  It  was  drawn  by  a  coarse-limbed  Normandy  horse, 
rigged  in  a  heavy  block  harness  —  the  whole  establishment  be¬ 
ing  in  proportion  and  appearance,  not  beautiful  but  substantial, 
symmetrical  and  pleasing  only  in  its  unity.  When  in  order 
for  a  ride,  it  was  the  pride  of  its  owner,  who  would  bring  the 
4  gig 1  around,  back  it  up  to  the  door,  and  announce  its  readi¬ 
ness  for  the  young  ladies,  who,  taking  seats  on  robes  placed  on 
the  bottom  of  the  vehicle,  the  driver  sitting  on  the  front 
hoard,  when  away  it  would  go,  jolting  and  thumping,  with  its 
lively,  joyous,  frolicsome  load.  It  was  fun  to  sefc  the  old 
cart  rattle  and  thump  over  the  stones,  or  across  the  pole  bridge 
that  afforded  the  only  crossing  to  the  Catfish,  or  over  logs  and 
through  brush,  as  the  party  jogged  on,  more  in  pursuit  of  fun 
than  berries. 

“  There  were  the  Miss  S - s’,  the  Miss  M - s’,  and  Miss 

D - and,  that  was  all;  girls  were  not  so  plenty  in  Madison  then 

as  now.  Can  it  he  that  those  romping,  bright-eyed  girls  that 
were  then  so  full  of  fun,  so  ready  to  join  in  such  excursions,  and 
so  ingenious  in  expedients,  turning  inconveniences  into  pleasant¬ 
ries,  ready  to  make  the  best  of  everything  —  careless  of  what 
the  world  might  say  or  think,  are  now  quieted  into  mature  ma¬ 
trons,  perhaps  sober  thoughtful  grand  dames,  putting  away  their 
happy,  mirthful,  tell-tale  faces,  that  they  may  assume  reserve 
and  dignity,  not  felt,  but  more  becoming  their  changed  fortune 
and  social  conditions?  We  cannot  look  upon  our  pleasant 
companions  of  “early  times ” without  regretting,  that  with 
years  should  come  so  marked  a  change  from  the  days  when  the 
wild  prairies  and  forests  were  not  more  free,  than  the  light¬ 
hearted  people  who  enjoyed  in  common  lot  the  comforts  and 
pleasures,  the  cares  and  privations  incident  to  a  new  country  ; 
for,  though  the  elegant  carriage  may  roll  noiselessly  along 
busy  streets,  and  people  may  pride  themselves  upon  the  show 
and  parade  of  a  splendid  44  turn-out,”  we  doubt  whether  there 
is  the  same  real  enjoyment  that  was  found  by  the  young  folks 
who  so  long  ago  went  a-riding  in  old  UbeldeejCs  one-horse 
gig.  Heigh-ho,  well  that  was  almost  thirty  years  ago. 


210 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


“The  earliest  inhabitant  will  also  remember  Tom  Jacksok. 
He  was  of  Scottish  origin,  a  man  of  intelligence,  but  peculiar 
in  his  manner,  amounting  to  eccentricity.  “Jack,”  as  he  was 
commonly  called,  was  a  ship  sawyer  by  trade,  and  came  to  Mad¬ 
ison  to  assist  in  ripping  out  with  a  whip-saw  much  of  the  lum¬ 
ber  used  in  the  building  of  the  old  Capitol.  Standing  in  the 
saw-pit,  the  old  fellow  would  laborjiard  and  patiently  during 
the  long  hours  of  the  day,  looking  forward  to  the  pleasures  of 
the  mug  and  pipe  at  night.  He  was  a  man  of  “  infinite  mirth,” 
good  natured  but  awfully  profane  in  the  expression  of  his  views, 
seldom,  if  ever  uttering  a  sentence  without  mixing  in  a  fearful 
number  of  hard  words.  In  person,  he  was  a  short,  thick-set, 
ruddy  looking  fellow,  grey  eyes,  and  his  head,  with  a  very  nar¬ 
row  belt  of  yellow  hair  about  its  base,  shiningly  bald.  Jack 
seldom  wore  any  thing  in  the  shape  of  a  head  covering,  and 
when  he  did,  it  was  but  the  sorry  remains  of  a  plaid  cap  that 
he  brought  from  Edenboro’  town  with  him ;  so  accustomed  had 
he  been  to  going  without  one,  that  on  returning  from  his  work, 
he  would  frequently  tuck  his  cap  under  his  arm,  and  march  off 
bare-headed;  but  on  being  told  he  was  not  wearing  it,  he  would 
place  his  hand  on  his  bald  head,  swear  good  naturedly  at  his 
carelssness,  and  trudge  back  to  the  saw-pit  for  the  lost  cap, 
never  dreaming  that  he  had  it  under  his  arm.  We  remember 
seeing  Jack  very  much  confused  at  a  fire.  The  house  where  he 
was  boarding,  a  small  log  house,  standing  opposite  the  present 
Meredith  House,  caught  fire  in  the  night,  causing  no  little  con¬ 
fusion  among  the  boarders.  Jack  was  soon  on  his  feet,  as 
crazy  as  a  bed-bug  —  could  find  nothing,  and  relieved  himself  by 
many  a  hard  oath,  directed  at  persons  and  things  about  him. 
In  his  search  for  his  pants,  he  caught  hold  of  a  sailor-jacket  be¬ 
longing  to  one  of  his  room  mates,  and  imagining  the  garment 
to  be  his  breeches,  thrust  his  feet  through  the  sleeves,  and 
finding  them  too  short  for  his  legs,  uttered  a  fearful  judgment 
upon  the  man  who  had  cut  off  the  legs  of  his  pantaloons  !  Many 
an  anecdote  will  be  remembered  of  old  Jack,  by  those  who  long 
ago  listened  to  his  story  and  song.  Tom  has  been  dead  many 
years,  and  the  hope  is  a  fervent  one  that  he  has  gone  to  a  better 
place  than  he  often  wished  his  own  soul. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


211 


u  During  the  territorial  existence  of  Wisconsin,  it  was  divid¬ 
ed  into  three  judicial  circuits,  presided  over  by  appointees  from 
the  states.  Some  of  these  appointees  were  broken-down  pol¬ 
iticians,  or  men  who  failing  to  gain  prominence  in  their  pro¬ 
fession,  where  better  known,  were  willing  to  be  exiled  to  the  new 
territories,  where  “  dispensing  the  law  ”  was  distinguished  by  no 
very  marked  display  of  ability,  integrity  or  legal  information, 
and  were  generally  less  noted  for  their  legal  ability  than  for 
their  knowledge  and  appreciation  of  u  old  rye.”  A  tolerably  cor¬ 
rect  idea  of  some  of  the  western  judges  at  that  time,  may  he 
formed  from  an  extra- judicial  remark  of  Judge  F.,  while  on  the 
bench  at  Milwaukee.  The  Judge  had  imbibed  freely  of  his  fav¬ 
orite  rye,  and  though  barely  able  to  retain  his  seat,  he,  in  his 
drunken  humor,  insisted  on  hearing  and  determining  cases, 
whether  he  understood  them  or  not.  Making  a  decision  which 
Col.  C.,  an  attorney  in  the  pending  case,  did  not  approve  of,  he 
called  the  attention  of  the  u  Court  ”  to  a  certain  provision  of  law 
in  the  statutes  of  Michigan,  then  governing  the  courts  of  Wis¬ 
consin.  The  boozy  Judge,  in  a  rather  undignified  manner,  re¬ 
marked,  u  To - with  the  courts  of  Michigan  —  I  am  the  law 

and  the  prophets.”  Such  was  the  law  and  the  prophets  in 
those  days. 

“  But  we  are  getting  out  of  our  circuit.  The  district  of  which 
Madison  was  the  centre,  was  presided  over  by  Judge  Irvin,  a 
worthy  gentlemen,  but  peculiar  in  many  respects.  He  was  a 
fair  judge  of  law,  but  a  better  judge  of  horses  and  dogs  — if  he 
could  trace  law  principles  back  to  Blackstone,  he  could  more 
readily,  and  with  greater  certainty  and  satisfaction,  trace  every 
“  thorough-bred  ”  back  to  some  famous  stock  of  Virginia,  and 
he  knew  the  degree  of  every  blooded  dog  he  met  with.  He  was 
a  confirmed  u  old  bach,”  made  his  own  bed,  sewed  on  his  own 
buttons,  and  knew  every  thing  in  the  line  of  domestic  duties, 
from  the  boiling  of  an  egg,  to  the  whitening  of  his  high-crowned 
straw  hat,  which  in  course  of  time,  became  quite  noted  through¬ 
out  his  district.  He  was  a  good  talker,  but  an  indifferent  list¬ 
ener  —  he  disliked  being  talked  to,  but  nothing  suited  him  better 
than  to  gossip  of  himself,  his  horse  and  his  dog,  and  indeed  it 


212 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  ADD  THE 


was  difficult  to  tell  from  his  conversation  which  of  the  three 
he  thought  most  of.  Few  of  the  early  settlers  have  forgot¬ 
ten  “Pedro”  the  long-legged,  slender-bodied  sorrel  horse, 
rode  by  the  Judge.  He  was  in  the  Judge’s  eye,  an  ex¬ 
traordinary  animal,  and  possessed  all  the  points  distinguish¬ 
ing  the  long  line  of  thorough-bred  ancestry,  through  which 
Pedro’s  lineage  could  be  traced  by  his  master.  No  suitor 
thought  of  getting  a  hearing  in  court,  until  he  had 
first  given  the  judge  a  hearing  as  to  the  ancestry  and  peculiar 
qualities  of  his  favorite  animal,  and  so  well  known  had  this 
become,  that  upon  “  his  Honor’s  ”  ascending  the  bench  one 
morning,  he  found  Pedro’s  bridle  suspended  over  the  chair,  sig¬ 
nificantly  described.  Noah  P - ,  a  well-known  joker  of  that 

day,  used  to  say  that  the  bench  was  full  only  when  composed 
of  Whiton’s  boots,  Pedro’s  bridle  and  the  dog  York  and  Judge 
I.;  but  that  was  speaking  lightly  of  “  the  court.”  The  dog  York, 
if  not  of  the  court,  was  its  constant  attendant,  and  woe  to  the 
suitor,  witness  or  juryman  that  showed  the  dog  disrespect.  In 
those  days,  court  room  floors  were  covered  with  saw-dust  in¬ 
stead  of  matting,  and  occasionally  some  evil-disposed  attendant 
would  cover  York  with  saw-dust,  in  which  condition  he  would 
ascend  the  platform  to  his  master,  who  would  store  up  wrath 
until  he  had  an  opportunity  of  gratifying  it,  in  imposing  a 
fine  or  showing  his  contempt  for  the  wight  who  dusted  York. 
On  one  occasion,  York  was  the  direct  cause  of  an  adjournment 
of  court.  Tom  H.,  of  “the  Point,”  and  Berry  H.,  of  Madison, 
had  arranged  for  a  horse  race,  which  being  an  unusual  occur¬ 
rence  in  these  parts,  the  bar,  tbe  jury  and  others  in  attendance 
were  extremely  desirous  of  adjourning  court  to  witness  the 
sport,  but  the  Judge  persistently  refused  on  account  of  the  horses 
not  being  “  thorough-breds,”  and  not  having  an  honorable 
lineage  that  he  knew  of;  but  the  fun  was  not  to  be  lost  simply 
to  gratify  the  whim  of  “  the  court,”  and  an  expedient  was  re¬ 
sorted  to,  to  force  an  adjournment.  While  Judge  I.  was  at 
dinner,  the  dog  York  was  enticed  into  the  “National,”  and 
put  in  charge  of  the  landlord,  with  an  injunction  not  to  set  the 
dog  free,  until  a  crowd  about  the  door  of  the  Capitol  indicated 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


213 


an  adjournment  of  the  court.  Upon  resuming  his  seat,  the 
Judge  cast  an  anxious  look  about  the  room  for  York,  but  there 
was  no  dog  present.  Sitting  unquietly  while  the  clerk  called 
up  the  business  of  the  session,  the  Judge  took  advantage  of  the 
first  opportunity  that  offered,  to  call  the  Sheriff  to  him,  of 
whom  he  enquired  if  he  had  seen  “York.”  The  dog  had  not 
been  seen  since  the  adjournment.  “Very  strange,  sir,  very 
strange,”  said  the  Judge.  The  case  proceeded,  but  the  Judge 
grew  more  uneasy  with  each  passing  moment,  till  it  became 
quite  evident  to  those  present,  that  an  opportunity  would  be 
afforded  of  witnessing  the  race.  Again  calling  the  Sheriff,  he 
requested  him  to  go  to  the  outer  doors  and  whistle  for  the  mis¬ 
sing  dog.  He  did  so,  and  soon  word  came  back  that  York 
was  nowhere  to  be  found.  Frank  D.  was  arguing  the  case  then 
before  the  court,  and  among  the  most  anxious  to  witness  the 
race.  The  Judge  turned  to  him,  and  said,  “  Mr.  D.,  if  you  have 
no  objection,  and  it  is  agreeable  to  the  other  parties,  this  case 
will  go  over  till  to-morrow  morning.”  “  Not  the  least  objec¬ 
tion,  your  Honor,”  said  Mr.  D.,  and  the  case  went  over,  under 
an  order  from  the  Judge  to  adjourn  the  court  until  10  o’clock 
A.  M.  to-morrow.  As  soon  as  the  crowd  left  the  room,  York 
was  set  loose,  and  was  very  soon  at  the  Judge’s  side,  to  the  mu¬ 
tual  gratification  of  master  and  dog.  All  went  to  the  race  ex¬ 
cept  the  Judge.  On  another  occasion  there  was  quite  a  com¬ 
motion  in  the  lobby  of  the  court  room,  which  the  Judge  no¬ 
ticed,  and  called  the  Sheriff  to  inquire  the  cause  of  it.  “  There’s 
a  bear  on  the  “Point,”  said  the  official.  “Mr.  Sheriff,  adjourn 
the  court,”  said  the  Judge,  and  in  a  few  minutes  “  his  Honor” 
was  astride  Pedro,  making  for  the  Point,  followed  by  York,  and 
a  noisy  crowd  of  court  visitors.  Judge  I.  was  extremely  neat 
in  personal  mattery,  and  nothing  save  disrespect  to  his  dog,  or 
inattention  to  his  horse,  seemed  to  displease  him  more  than  the 
dirty,  filthy,  neglectful  personal  appearance  of  many  of  the  wit¬ 
nesses  and  jurymen  then  attending  court.  It  was  difficult  ob¬ 
taining  a  full  panel  in  the  new  county,  and  to  do  it  at  all,  the 
trappers  and  vagabonds  still  lingering  on  the  verge  of  civiliza¬ 
tion  were  frequently  summoned  to  seats  in  the  jury  box. 


214 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


Old  Pelkie,  the  fisherman,  was  once  summoned  in  order  tO' 
make  out  the  number,  but  on  making  his  appearance  to  takn 
the  oath,  the  Judge  challenged  him  with — “You  dirty  French¬ 
man,  go  home  and  wash  yourself,  and  put  on  some  clean  clothes,, 
and  then  come  back  and  take  the  oath,  sir.”  The  court  ad¬ 
journed  to  give  Pelkte  time  to  wash  and  properly  clothe  him¬ 
self. 

“  Judge  Irvin  was,  notwithstanding  his  peculiarities,  a  most, 
worthy  man,  whose  precept  and  example,  judges  of  more  mod¬ 
ern  date,  would  do  well  to  follow.  His  integrity  was  unques¬ 
tioned.  Pedro  and  York  occupied  his  thoughts  in  “  term 
time  and  vacation,”  giving  no  opportunity  for  reflections  that 
might  in  their  course  run  counter  to  justice  in  the  disposal  of 
suits  at  law.  It  may  be,  that  justice  would  be  more  equal  and 
exact,  now-a-days,  had  every  judge  his  Pedro  and  York. 

“  When  Wisconsin  became  a  state,  Judge  Irvin’s  occupation 
was  gone.  He  went  to  Texas,  and  the  last  we  heard  of  him,  he 
was  enjoying  his  horse,  dog  and  gun  on  his  own  plantation. 
What  became  of  Pedro  and  York,  this  deponent  saith  not.” 

Judge  J.  G.  Knapp,  in  his  “Early  Recollections,”  thus  refers 
to  Judge  Irvin: 

“Judge  Irwin,  who  lost  a  match  with  a  rich  lady  in  St. 
Louis,  because,  in  his  extreme  neatness  and  parsimony,  he 
would  persist  in  mending  his  own  stockings  and  sewing  on  his 
own  buttons,  has  been  drawn  to  life  by  Mr.  Hyer.  His  affec¬ 
tion  for  his  horse  Pedro  and  his  dog  York,  surpassed  his  love 
of  woman.  No  picture  of  the  Judge  would  have  been  com¬ 
plete  without  these,  his  constant  companions.  But  Wisconsin 
became  a  State,  he  lost  his  office,  and  the  pay  stopped.  He 
went  to  Texas  (he  had  never  wintered  in  Wisconsin,  unless  he 
was  sick  so  as  to  be  unable  to  get  away,)  and  took  up  his 
residence  on  the  Rio  Guadeloupe.  I  am  told  that  he  took  part 
in  the  late  rebellion,  and  some  of  the  Wisconsin  boys,  in  obe¬ 
dience  to  the  order  of  Gen.  Washburn,  attempted  to  take  him 
as  a  prisoner  of  war,  but  failed,  as  he  got  wind  of  the  hunters 
and  fled.  His  old  friends  would  have  been  glad  to  have  seen 
him  here,  and  heard  him  again  talk  of  the  full  blooded,  high- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


215 


bred  Pedro,  and  the  pure  pointer  York;  or  upon  visiting  him 
at  Camp  Randall,  to  have  seen  him  still  mending  his  stockings, 
and  sewing  on  his  buttons,  so  that  with  his  usual  neatness,  he 
might  have  borne  up,  under  the  fact  of  his  durance,  for  having 
fought  against  a  Government  which  had  sustained  and  even 
fed  him  so  long. 

u  When  he  left,  his  penuriousness  got  the  better  of  his  love, 
and  though  his  love  for  York  especially,  had  at  times  resulted 
(as  it  is  said,  but  for  the  truth  of  which  I  do  not  vouch,)  in 
judgment  against  many  a  poor  fellow  who  slighted  the  dog, 
or  gave  him  a  sly  kick,  as  happened  to  the  Sage  of  Muckwan- 
ago;  or  one  who  had  even  hinted  a  doubt  about  the  correctness 
of  his  always  scenting  a  game  bird,  as  Berry  Haney  did  when 
York  came  to  a  ‘firm  point’  on  a  snowbird.  Though  the 
Judge  at  the  time  most  pointedly  rebuked  Mr.  Haney,  with 
the  positive  assurance  that  snow  birds  make  most  excellent 
pot  pies,  and  were  therefore  game  birds,  a  fact  which  York 
well  knew.  Though  that  was  rather  a  novel  definition  of 
game  bird,  yet  by  it  York  was  then  defended,  and  remained  so 
until  the  time  came  for  the  judgment  of  the  court  to  reach  the 
offender,  then  the  dog  was  fully  appeased.” 

The  following  sketch  was  taken  from  the  Philadelphia 
American  Sentinel ,  1846.  We  have  no  knowledge  of  the 
writer,  who,  from  the  account,  must  have  been  in  this  section 
in  1835: 

“A  Leaf  of  Western  History.  —  About  eleven  years  ago, 
a  young  gentleman  left  this  city,  to  take  a  tour  through  the 
Western  country.  His  object  at  first  was  to  go  no  further 
than  Fort  Wayne  in  the  state  of  Indiana.  He  journeyed  that 
far  in  company  with  the  late  Commissioner  of  the  Patent 
Office,  Mr.  Ellsworth,  who  had  been  deputed  by  the  govern¬ 
ment  of  the  United  States  to  make  a  treaty  with  an  Indian 
tribe,  then  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Fort.  Mr.  Ellsworth  after 
remaining  there  a  short  time  returned  to  Washington,  while 
the  young  man,  not  then  more  than  eighteen  years  old,  pro¬ 
ceeded  to  the  state  of  Missouri,  where  he  met  his  cousin,  about 
his  own  age,  residing  at,  or  near  Hannibal.  These  3roung  men 


216 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


crossed  the  Mississippi,  reaching  Rock  river,  and  ascending  to 
the  first  of  the  celebrated  Four  Lakes  in  Wisconsin,  where 
they  engaged  the  only  inhabitant  residing  there,  to  carry  them 
in  a  canoe  up  the  river  of  the  Four  Lakes,  to  the  north  side  of 
the  Fourth  Lake,  at  which  place  there  resided  a  solitary  Indian . 
In  their  course  up  the  river,  to  the  Fourth  Lake,  they  saw  but 
one  white  man,  and  no  Indian,  except  the  one  already  referred 
to.  The  land  in  the  neighborhood  had  then  just  come  into  the 
possession  of  the  government,  and  the  Indians  had  of  course 
left  that  beautiful  region  of  country. 

u  The  travelers  slept  on  the  margin  of  Lake  Koshkonong, 
near  an  Indian  burial  place  on  their  journey. 

u  They  stopped  also  at  the  point  between  the  Third  and 
Fourth  lakes,  where  the  beautiful  town  of  Madison,  the  seat 
of  government  of  the  territory  of  Wisconsin  now  stands. 

“  At  that  time,  the  only  town  in  the  western  part  of  Wis¬ 
consin,  was  Mineral  Point.  Janesville,  now  one  of  the  finest 
towns  in  the  interior  of  the  territory,  had  not  then  been 
thought  of,  nor  had  Beloit,  a  large  and  flourishing  town  in 
Rock  county.  No  legislature  had  then  met  in  Wisconsin,  for 
the  territory  had  just  been  separated  from  Michigan.  No  white 
man  lived  near  the  site  of  Madison,  to  think  of  building  a 
town  then. 

“  Two  or  three  years  after  that  period,  it  was  fixed  upon  as 
the  seat  of  government;  and  a  fine  spacious  building  erected 
for  the  reception  of  the  legislature. 

“  The  two  young  gentlemen,  who  traversed  this  section  of 
country  together,  and  who  looked  over  it,  while  the  imprint  of 
the  Indian  was  still  upon  the  shores  of  the  lakes,  returned  East, 
the  one  to  reside  in  the  city  of  Baltimore  —  from  whom  most 
of  the  particulars  of  this  article  have  been  obtained,  while  the 
other  delighted  with  this  captivating  section  of  the  West,  as 
soon  as  he  reached  the  maturity  of  manhood,  returned  and  set¬ 
tled  in  Madison,  and  is  now  the  presiding  officer  under  the  char¬ 
ter  of  incorporation,  granted  to  the  town  of  Madison  at  the  last 
session  of  the  Wisconsin  Legislature.* 


*Thos.  W.  Sutherland. 


Vilas  House ,  from  Capitol  Park. 
Park  Hotel . 


JONES,  Photo. 


. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


217 


“We  have  published  the  foregoing  remarks  mainly  with  the 
view  of  introducing  the  extract  below,  showing  how  rapidly 
the  western  towns,  as  it  were,  burst  into  existence,  under  the 
tide  of  emigration  flowing  in  that  direction.  The  Milwaukee 
Courier  gives  the  following  interesting  account  of  the  seat  of 
government  of  Wisconsin,  but  a  few  years  ago  the  hunting 
ground  of  the  Indian: 

“Madison,  the  Capitol  of  Wisconsin,  is  exhibiting  signs  of 
business  and  prosperity  really  surprising.  During  a  stay  of  two 
days  at  the  Madison  Hotel,  last  week,  we  found  an  average  of 
one  hundred  persons  at  the  table  at  every  meal.  It  is  the  most 
lovely  location  imaginable ,  and  nothing  can  prevent  its  becom¬ 
ing  at  an  early  day,  a  city  in  population  and  business,  as  well  as 
in  name.  Some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  progressive  strides 
of  the  town  and  adjacent  country,  from  the  fact  that  in  1842, 
the  whole  county  contained  but  about  seven  hundred  inhabi¬ 
tants,  which  it  is  expected  the  census  of  the  present  month 
will  make  ten  thousand.” 

“We  take  leave  to  add,  that  besides  having  three  well  con- 
conducted  newspapers,  the  town  has  many  valuable  stores. 
The  library  of  the  Territory  is  there  and  is  excellent  —  and  the 
Methodists,  Presbyterians,  Episcopalians  and  Catholics  all  have 
regular  worship  in  that  town.  Reposing,  as  it  does  between 
two  as  lovely  lakes  as  are  to  be  seen  anywhere,  Madison  is  one 
of  the  most  enchanting  spots  in  the  Republic.  As  the  poet 
has  it : 

“  This  gem-like  town  o’erlooks  the  crystal  lakes, 

And  smiles  in  beauty  as  the  morn  awakes.” 

A  plan  for  the  University  buildings,  drafted  by  J.  F.  Hoyne, 
was  submitted  to  the  Board  of  Regents,  and  was  accepted. 
A  central  edifice  and  four  dormitories  were  embraced  within 
the  scope  of  this  plan.  The  central  building  was  to  be  150  by 
60  feet  on  the  ground,  to  contain  thirteen  public  rooms,  and 
two  dwellings  for  officers.  Of  the  dormitories,  two  were  to  be 
on  each  side  of  an  avenue  two  hundred  and  forty  feet  broad, 
leading  from  the  front  of  the  main  structure  in  the  direction 
15 


218 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


of  the  Capitol.  Each  dormitory  was  to  he  110  by  40  feet  on 
the  ground,  four  stories  high,  and  to  contain  thirty-two  studies, 
each  fourteen  by  fifteen  feet,  and  each  study  to  have  attached 
two  bedrooms  and  a  wood-room.  It  was  estimated  that  these 
buildings,  together  with  sundry  improvements  to  the  grounds 
would  cost  about  $90,000.  The  actual  cost  of  the  two  dormi¬ 
tories  and  the  University  Hall  is  shown  by  the  records  to  have 
been  $101,631.57.  The  plan  was  so  far  improved  that  the 
erection  of  one  dormitory  in  accordance  with  it  was  authorized, 
and  proposals  were  advertised  for  its  construction,  to  he  com¬ 
pleted  by  January  1,  1851. 

Thirteen  bids  were  received  by  the  committee,  the  most  fa¬ 
vorable  of  which  was  found  to  he  that  presented  by  Varhey 
&  Parker,  who  proposed  to  complete  the  building  of  stone, 
according  to  the  specifications,  at  the  aggregate  cost  of 
$17,800. 

Johh  H.  Lathrop,  LL.D.,  was  inaugurated  into  the  office  of 
Chancellor,  January  16,  1850. 

The  lower  story  of  the  Madison  Academy  was  occupied  by 
the  preparatory  department  of  the  University  from  February 
to  August,  1850,  and  here  the  first  collegiate  class  completed 
their  preparation.  In  the  fall  of  that  year,  the  first  dormitory 
building  was  completed,  and  the  third  session  of  the  prepara¬ 
tory  school  was  held  here.  The  first  class  then  entered  upon 
the  college  curriculum,  and  Chancellor  Lathrop  began  the  dis¬ 
charge  of  his  duties  as  instructor. 

In  July  of  the  same  year,  the  Board  of  Regents  directed 
that  a  portion  of  the  Vahderpoel  purchase,  not  needed  for  a 
site,  should  he  laid  out  in  village  lots,  and  put  in  the  market. 
A  sufficient  amount  was  realized  to  replace  the  original  cost  of 
the  tract,  and  yield  a  profit  of  $7,682.70  besides.  Hon.  Hehry 
Dodge,  United  States  Senator  from  Wisconsin,  made  a  valua¬ 
ble  donation  to  the  library,  and  Chancellor  Lathrop  a  condi¬ 
tional  loan  of  his  private  library. 

The  population  of  the  village,  as  taken  in  1850,  shows  1,525, 
and  the  town  of  Madison,  346;  total,  1,871;  a  gain  of  705  since 
1847. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


219 


The  Wisconsin  Express ,  of  February  26,  1850,  in  speaking 
of  the  prosperity  of  the  village  and  its  future  prospects,  says: 
44  At  no  former  period  of  time  has  our  beautiful  town  presented 
so  strong  evidences  of  prosperity  as  at  present.” 

The  sale  of  school  and  university  lands  in  Dane  county  took 
place  ron  the  11th  of  November;  5,320  acres  were  sold,  and 
brought  $29,280.03.  These  lands  comprised  many  valuable 
pieces  of  property,  and  were  mainly  purchased  by  those  pro¬ 
posing  to  make  them  their  homes,  and  brought  good  prices. 

The  first  number  of  the  Wisconsin  Statesman  appeared  Au¬ 
gust  1,  1850.  W.  W.  Wyman  &  Sons  (W.  H.  and  A.  U.  Wy¬ 
man)  publishers.  It  was  an  eight  column  weekly,  well  printed, 
Whig  in  politics.  It  belonged  to  what  was  known  as  the  Sil¬ 
ver  Gray  branch  of  that  party.  For  a  time  Wm.  Welch  was 
associated  in  the  editorial  management. 

De  Norsken  Ven ,  a  newspaper  in  the  Norwegian  language, 
was  published  about  the  same  time,  Ole  Torgerson  publisher, 
and  was  well  supported. 

The  village  corporation  officers  elected  this  year,  were,  W. 
N.  Seymour,  President;  S.  Mills,  D.  Holt,  Jr.,  S.  F.  Honn, 

D.  H.  Wright,  Jehu  H.  Lewis,  D.  T.  Dixon,  Trustees;  Geo. 
M.  Oakley,  Treasurer;  J.  R.  Brigham,  Clerk;  A.  Viall  and 

E.  M.  Williamson,  Assessors;  W.  C.  Wells,  Marshal. 

The  corporation  assessment  of  1850,  was:  real  property, 
$137,315;  personal,  $19,850;  total,  $157,165.  Amount  of  tax 
levied,  $785.33. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  completed  this  year,  on 
the  corner  of  Pinckney  and  Mifflin  streets. 

44  To  those  who  have  hitherto  been  skeptical  in  regard  to  the 
expediency  of  improving  the  water  power  of  Lake  Mendota,” 
says  the  Express , 44  we  would  recommend  a  visit  to  that  improve¬ 
ment,  and  all  doubts  in  reference  to  the  feasibility  of  the  work 
will  be  removed.  We  visited  the  works  of  Farwell  &  Co., 
and  were  surprised  to  find  so  much  work  had  been  accom¬ 
plished.  We  found,  in  successful  operation,  a  saw  mill  turning 
out  lumber  at  a  rapid  rate ;  a  grist  mill  is  also  about  ready  to 
commence  operations,  of  sufficient  dimensions  to  supply  the 


220 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  ARD  THE 


wants  of  the  surrounding  country  until  another  mill  can  he 
constructed;  a  turning  lathe  is  also  making  bedposts,  etc.  A 
brewery  has  also  been  put  in  operation.  The  power  is  ample 
to  propel  eight  run  of  stone,  besides  such  other  machinery  as 
may  be  desired.” 

L.  J.  Farwell  commenced  building  his  large  grist  and  flour 
mill,  May  1,  1850.  It  was  finished  the  following  autumn,  and 
contained  eight  run  of  stone.  He  also  opened  Williamson 
street  and  the  Fort  Winnebago  and  Milwaukee  road  across  the 
Yahara  or  Catfish  this  season.  The  valuable  improvements 
made  by  this  enterprising  citizen  did  much  to  call  attention  to 
the  desirability  of  Madison  as  a  place  of  business  and  of  resi¬ 
dence.  Mr.  Farwell’s  large  pecuniary  means  at  that  time 
were  devoted  to  the  improvement  of  his  real  property  at  this 
place.  He  also  advertised  largely,  and  spent  large  sums  in  dis¬ 
seminating  information  of  this  section,  which,  previous  to  his 
coming,  was  almost  an  unknown  country. 

A  meeting  of  the  legal  voters  of  School  District  No.  1,  town 
of  Madison,  was  held  on  the  20th  of  March,  1850.  D.  H. 
Wright,  then  Town  Superintendent  of  Schools,  called  the 
meeting  to  order,  and  the  following  district  officers  were 
elected:  Wm.  C.  Wells,  Director;  Benjamin  Holt,  Treasurer; 
and  Simeon-  Mills,  Clerk.  The  census  taken  April  1,  of  the 
same  year,  shows  the  number  of  children  residing  in  the  dis¬ 
trict  over  four  and  under  twenty  years,  to  be  317 ;  whole  num¬ 
ber  attending  school,  153.  May  11,  of  this  year,  James  L. 
Enos  was  engaged  to  teach  the  District  School  three  months, 
at  $30  a  month,  at  the  expiration  of  which  term  he  was  reen¬ 
gaged,  and  continued  for  two  years.  It  seems  that  efforts  were 
here  made  by  Mr.  Enos  to  inaugurate  the  Graded  School  sys¬ 
tem.  The  school  was  divided  into  two  departments,  Mrs. 
Church  having  charge  of  the  primary. 

The  Wisconsin  Argus,  of  November  19,  1850,  says:  “As 
nearly  as  we  have  been  able  to  estimate,  over  100  (W.  N.  Sey¬ 
mour  says  117)  new  buildings  have  been  erected  this  season, 
and  numbers  contemplated  could  not  be  commenced  for  want 
of  material.” 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


221 


Among  tlie  prominent  merchants  at  that  time  were,  Tibbits, 
Gordon  &  Keyes,  N.  W.  Dean,  J.  C.  Fairchild,  W.  C.  Wells, 
Dean  &  Ruggles,  W.  N.  Seymour,  Donaldson  &  Tredway, 
J.  H.  Lewis,  Friend  &  Brother,  Ward  &  Honn,  N.  M.  Dod¬ 
son,  J.  B.  Rowley,  D.  Holt,  Jr.,  C.  S.  Newton,  Cannon  & 
Sadd,  and  D.  Clark. 

The  Wisconsin  Statesman  of  September  19,  1850,  says  of 
the  mill:  “  Far  well’s  mills  are  now  nearly  completed;  the 
building  is  fifty  feet  square  on  the  ground,  five  stories  high, 
and  presents  to  the  eye  the  appearance  of  beauty,  durability 
and  strength.  The  first  tree  was  cut  from  the  stump  about 
the  middle  of  May  last,  and  by  October  15th  the  building  is 
expected  to  be  complete.  The  mill  is  estimated  to  flour  500,000 
bushels  of  wheat  per  year.  Geo.  Yeoman  was  the  master 
framer  of  the  building,  J.  L.  Roundy  architect,  W.  A.  Wheeler 
has  charge  of  the  mill-wright  department.” 

September  1st,  S.  Mills,  Esq.,  Clerk  of  School  District  No. 
1,  comprising  the  village,  made  a  report,  showing  that  the 
whole  number  of  persons  of  school  age  was  503;  that  a  school 
had  been  taught  by  James  L.  Enos  for  three  months,  since 
the  formation  of  the  district,  as  made  in  March,  at  $30  per 
month. 

The  corporation  officers  elected  in  the  spring  of  1851  were: 
Simeon  Mills,  President;  J.  R.  Brigham,  Clerk;  B.  Holt,  H. 
A.  Tenney,  W.  Welch,  D.  H.  Wright,  L.  J.  Farwell  and 
A.  A.  Bird,  Trustees;  Jas.  Richardson,  Assessor;  Darwin 
Clark,  Treasurer;  A.  Bishop,  Marshal.  The  annual  receipts 
into  the  treasury  of  the  village  for  1851,  were  $994.77,  and  dis¬ 
bursements  $908.52.  The  assessed  valuation  of  real  property, 
$122,780;  personal  property,  $26,050;  total  $148,830. 

The  most  notable  improvements  during  the  year  1851  were 
the  erection  of  the  two  fine  stone  dwellings  of  Hon.  Levi  B. 
Vilas  and  Jere.  T.  Marston,  on  opposite  corners  of  Henry 
and  Langdon  streets.  That  of  Judge  Vilas  was  at  that  time 
regarded  as  the  most  elegant  private  residence  in  the  state. 
It  is  48  feet  front  on  Henry  street,  extending  100  feet  on  Lang¬ 
don  street,  and  cost  about  $15,000. 


222 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


In  the  spring  of  1851,  Messrs.  Atwood  &  Buck,  then  pub¬ 
lishers  of  the  Madison  Express ,  commenced  the  erection  of  a 
double  house,  or  two  houses  under  the  same  roof,  on  Wis¬ 
consin  Avenue,  block  85.  A  solid  center  wall  divides  thes-e 
houses,  and  there  are  no  connecting  doors  leading  from  one  to 
the  other.  The  building  is  of  red  brick,  manufactured  in  the 
city  by  Peter  H.  Vast  Bergen,  Esq.  The  main  part  is  two 
stories  high,  with  a  roomy  attic.  There  is  a  wing  on  each 
side  of  the  main  building,  one  story  with  high  attic  rooms. 
Each  house  contains,  on  the  first  floor,  a  hall,  parlor,  sitting 
room,  dining  room  and  kitchen,  with  various  pantries,  closets, 
etc.  The  second  floor  contains  five  good  sleeping  rooms, 
with  closets  for  each,  and  on  the  third  floor  there  are  three 
sleeping  rooms  with  closets  for  each.  The  brick  mason  work 
was  done  by  the  day,  under  direction  of  Mr.  A.  Viall,  still  a 
resident  of  Madison.  The  carpenter  work  was  done  under 
contract  by  Messrs.  John  D.  Welch  and  John  0.  Hogg.  Mr. 
Welch  died  some  two  years  ago,  and  about  a  dozen  years  ago, 
Mr.  Hogg  removed  to  Missouri.  The  plastering  was  done 
under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Geo.  M.  Oakley,  now  a  resident  of 
Chicago;  and  the  painting  by  Messrs.  Michael  and  Samuel 
Francomb,  both  deceased.  The  owners  removed  into  their 
respective  houses  in  December,  1851.  Mr.  Royal  Buck  occu¬ 
pied  his  house  less  than  one  year,  when,  on  the  death  of  Mrs. 
Buck,  he  removed  to  Fond  du  Lac.  He  now  resides  in 
Nebraska.  In  1853,  David  Atwood  purchased  Mr.  Buck’s 
house,  and  has  owned  them  both  since  that  time,  and  has 
resided  in  the  one  he  moved  into  in  1851.  The  building  was 
substantially  constructed,  and  is  now  (1874)  a  very  creditable 
block,  affording  good  room  for  two  families. 

The  annual  election  of  town  officers  this  spring  (April  1), 
1851,  resulted  in  the  election  of  L.  J.  Fakwell,  J.  P.  Mann 
and  R.  T.  Davis,  Supervisors;  J.  T.  Wilson,  Assessor;  J.  J. 
Starks,  Clerk;  N.  S.  Emmons,  Treasurer;  D.  Noble  Johnson, 
Superintendent  of  Schools;  W.  N.  Seymour  and  G.  C.  Albee, 
Justices  of  the  Peace.  The  receipts  of  the  town  to  March  26th 
were  $3,268.06,  and  expenditures  $2,579.47. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


223 


The  Madison  Mutual  Insurance  Company  was  incorporated 
by  act  of  the  legislature,  approved  March  IT,  1851.  The  fol¬ 
lowing  were  the  first  Board  of  Directors:  L.  J.  Farwell, 
Simeon  Mills,  John  Catlin,  N.  B.  Eddy,  A.  J.  Ward,  W.  N. 
Seymour,  N.  W.  Dean,  E.  B.  Dean,  Jr.,  Wm.  Welch,  Wm.  C. 
Wells,  David  Atwood,  F.  G.  Tibbits  and  B.  F.  Hopkins. 
Officers:  Simeon  Mills,  President;  N.  B.  Eddy,  Vice  President; 
B.  F.  Hopkins,*  Secretary;  L.  J.  Farwell,  Treasurer. 

*Hon.  Benjamin  F.  Hopkins  was  born  at  Hebron,  Washington  county, 
New  York,  April  22,  1829.  His  early  life  was  spent  upon  a  farm,  and  he  was 
for  a  time  clerk  in  a  country  store.  While  yet  a  youth,  the  telegraph  was 
brought  into  use,  and  after  a  short  experience  he  became  an  accomplished 
operator.  In  October,  1849,  he  came  to  Wisconsin  and  stopped  first  at 
Fond  du  Lac  for  a  short  time,  and  in  November,  he  removed  to  Madison 
and  had  charge  of  the  telegraph  office.  In  1851,  he  procured  the  passage 
of  a  law  incorporating  the  Madison  Mutual  Insurance  Company,  which 
company  was  duly  organized  in  April  and  Mr.  Hopkins  was  elected  Sec¬ 
retary.  He  served  in  this  capacity  five  years  and  was  a  director  to  the  day  of 
his  decease.  In  1855,  mainly  through  his  influence,  the  Madison  Gas  Light 
and  Coke  Company  was  incorporated,  and  organized  in  the  spring  of 
1856,  with  Mr.  Hopkins  as  Secretary.  This  company  was  subsequently 
leased  to  him  for  five  years  and  became  a  success,  and  he  became  the 
owner  of  a  majority  of  the  stock  which  proved  very  valuable.  He  took 
an  active  and  prominent  part  in  the  establishment  of  the  Soldiers’  Orphans’ 
Home,  and  was  always  a  leading  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  On 
Governor  Bashford’s  taking  the  executive  chair,  he  appointed  Mr.  Hop¬ 
kins  his  Private  Secretary,  which  position  he  held  in  1856  and  1857.  I*1 

the  fall  of  1861,  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate  and  served  two  years, 
and  in  1865  he  was  elected  Member  of  the  Assembly.  He  was  an  unsuc¬ 
cessful  candidate  of  the  convention  that  met  to  nominate  a  congressman 
in  1862  and  1864.  In  the  convention  of  1866,  he  received  a  nomination  on 
the  136th  ballot  and  was  duly  elected.  In  1868,  he  was  renominated. 

Mr.  Hopkins  had  just  completed  his  first  term  in  congress  when  disease 
took  a  severe  hold  upon  him.  He  sufficiently  recovered  to  take  a  trip 
over  the  Pacific  Road  to  San  Francisco,  but  in  the  fall  of  1869,  he  was 
again  taken  sick  and  lingered  until  the  morning  of  the  first  day  of  Jan¬ 
uary,  1870,  when  he  died,  in  the  41st  year  of  his  age. 

Mr.  Hopkins  was  married  first  to  Miss  Ethelinda  Lewis,  May  25,  1853, 
who  died  about  two  years  thereafter.  He  married  second,  Mrs.  Mary  E. 
Willicutt,  September  14,  1857,  w^°  survives  him,  and  has  since  been  mar¬ 
ried  to  Hon  Arthur  McArthur,  Judge  of  the  United  States  District  Cour 
at  Washington,  District  of  Columbia. 


224 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


The  usual  celebration  on  the  4th  of  July  this  year  (1851) 
was  held,  the  following  persons  being  the  officers:  J.  C.  Fair- 
child,  President;  A.  Botkin,  Vice  President;  Hon.  Jas.  Arm¬ 
strong,  Orator;  A.  A.  Bird,  Marshal;  Beriah  Brown,  Reader; 
and  Rev.  W.  Lattin,  Chaplain.  The  celebration  was  brought 
to  a  conclusion  by  a  sad  accident  which  occurred  to  Mr. 
DeLancy  Thayer,  a  journeyman  printer  in  this  place.  While 
tiring  the  cannon,  the  gun  made  a  premature  discharge,  tear¬ 
ing  off  all  his  clothes,  blowing  both  of  his  arms  literally  to 
pieces,  ruining  one  eye,  tearing  and  mutilating  his  face  and 
head  in  the  most  shocking  manner,  and  otherwise  injuring  his 
body,  although  not  seriously.  He  was  taken  to  the  residence 
of  his  father-in-law,  Mr.  Daniel  Mallo,  when  his  arms  were 
amputated  near  the  shoulder  by  Dr.  A.  J.  Ward,  and  his 
wounds  dressed. 

Nicholas  Smith,  one  of  the  early  settlers  and  merchants  of 
the  village,  died  July  15,  aged  38  years. 

The  Madison  Sacred  Music  Society  was  organized  Sept.  11, 
1851,  by  the  election  of  the  following  officers:  John  Y.  Smith, 
President;  David  Holt,  Jr.,  Vice  President;  Daniel  S.  Durrie, 
Secretary  and  Treasurer;  Caleb  Jewett  and  A.  S.  Wood, 
Yocal  Conductors;  WilletS.  Main,  Eri  S.  Oakley  and  Leon¬ 
ard  S.  Hill,  Board  of  Managers.  This  Society  gave  a  concert 
at  the  Assembly  Hall  January  28, 1852,  and  one  at  the  Court 
House  May  26,  1852.  The  exercises  were  referred  to  in  the  vil¬ 
lage  papers  as  highly  commendable.  The  Society,  however,  had 
but  a  brief  existence. 

The  following  account  of  the  organization  of  the  Presbyte¬ 
rian  church,  is  taken  from  the  records  of  that  church.  At  a 
meeting  of  the  Presbytery  of  Dane,  held  October  3,  1851,  du¬ 
ring  the  sessions  of  the  Synod  of  Wisconsin  at  its  first  meet¬ 
ing  in  Fort  Winnebago,  a  petition  from  several  ehurch  mem¬ 
bers  resident  in  and  near  Madison,  Wis.,  and  formerly  con¬ 
nected  with  the  Presbyterian,  Reformed  Dutch,  and  Associate 
Reformed  churches,  asking  to  be  organized  into  a  Presbyterian 
church,  and  received  into  the  Presbytery,  was  presented  by  Rev- 
H.  B.  Gardiner  to  the  Presbytery  of  Dane,  whereupon  the 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN.  225 

Presbytery  appointed  a  committee  consisting  of  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
D.  C.  Lyon  and  Thomas  Fraser,  to  visit  Madison,  and,  if  in 
their  judgment  the  way  should  be  deemed  clear,  to  effect  the 
organization  of  a  church  in  connection  with  the  Presbytery, 
with  the  privilege  of  inviting  clerical  members  from  the 
other  Presbyteries  belonging  to  the  Synod  to  take  part  in 
the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  their  commission. 

The  committee  met  at  Madison,  October  4,  1851,  Saturday 
evening,  and  after  divine  service,  organized  a  church  consisting 
of  the  following  members: 

John  Y.  Smith,  from  the  Reformed  Dutch  church,  formerly 
existing  in  Madison,  of  which  he  was  an  Elder,  and  the  only 
remaining  member  resident  here,  DanielS.  Durrie  and  Anna 
Holt  Durrie,  his  wife,  by  letter  from  the  Third  Reformed 
Dutch  Church  of  Albany,  N.  Y.,  Mary  E.  and  Clara  Gardi¬ 
ner,  by  letter  from  the  South  Presbyterian  church,  Galena,  Ill., 
and  Jane  McFarland,  by  letter  from  the  Presbyterian  church 
of  Mansfield,  Ohio.  An  election  of  officers  was  held,  and  Rev. 
John  W.  Sterling,  Professor  in  the  State  University,  and  John 
Y.  Smith  were  elected  Ruling  Elders,  and  D.  S.  Durrie, 
Deacon.  On  the  succeeding  day,  Sunday,  October  5,  after  pub¬ 
lic  worship  at  Lewis  Hall,  these  persons  were  ordained  and  in¬ 
stalled.  Rev.  H.  B.  Gardiner*  was  engaged  as  stated  supply 
of  the  pulpit. 

On  the  same  day,  in  the  intermission  between  the  hours  of 
public  worship,  the  session  received  four  additional  members; 
James  McBride,  and  Mrs.  Mary  Ann  McBride,  his  wife,  from 
the  associated  Reformed  church  of  Milroy,  Indiana,  Mrs.  Eliz¬ 
abeth  Jane  Fox,  from  the  Presbyterian  church  of  Greenfield, 
Wis.,  and  William  Fox,  her  son. 

The  church  thus  organized,  occupied  for  a  while,  rooms  in 
the  second  story  of  Lewis1  Hall,  opposite  the  site  of  the  pres¬ 
ent  church  building,  subsequently  the  building  owned  by  C. 
Abbott,  corner  of  Mifflin  and  Carrol  streets,  and  used  as  a  gro¬ 
cery,  or  more  recently  by  B.  D.  Miner  as  a  bakery. 


*  Rev.  Mr.  Gardiner  died  at  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  July  23,  1874. 


226 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


Rev.  Mr.  Gardiner  made  a  successful  effort  to  obtain  funds 
for  the  erection  of  a  church  edifice  the  year  after  his  location 
Jhere,  and  a  framed  building  was  erected,  forty  by  sixty  feet  on 
the  corner  of  Wisconsin  avenue  and  Johnson  street,  with  a 
spire  110  feet  above  the  ground.  A  bell  of  the  weight  of  1,000 
pounds  was  afterwards  procured.  An  election  for  Trustees 
was  held  March  18,  1852,  and  Rev.  H.  B.  Gardiner  was  elected 
President,  and  J.  Y.  Smith,  D.  S.  Durrie  and  J.  T.  Clark,  were 
elected  Trustees. 

The  new  church  building  was  completed  and  dedicated,  De¬ 
cember  25,  1853. 

Rev.  Mr.  Gardiner  resigned  October  21,  1855,  and  Septem¬ 
ber  21,  1856,  an  unanimous  call  was  extended  to  Rev.  Wi.  L. 
rGREEN,  of  Greenville,  Kentucky,  to  become  pastor,  which  was 
accepted,  and  he  preached  until  April  2,  1865,  when,  owing  to 
ill-health,  he  resigned.  On  the  17th  of  September,  1865,  the 
church  invited  Rev.  Edward  G.  Read,  of  Princeton,  N.  J.,  to 
become  their  pastor,  which  was  accepted,  and  he  was  ordained 
and  installed  October  11,  1865,  with  impressive  services,  in 
which  Rev.  J.  M.  Buchanan,  D.  D.,  of  Milwaukee,  and  Rev. 
Messrs.  Fox  and  Day  participated.  Mr.  Read  resigned  1869, 
and  Rev.  Richard  V.  Dodge,  of  Wheeling,  West  Virginia,  was 
elected  pastor,  which  position  he  retained  until  March,  1871, 
when  he  accepted  a  call  to  a  church  in  San  Francisco,  Cal.  In 
the  spring  of  1873,  Rev.  L.Y.  Hays,  of  Ottawa,  Ill.  was  elected, 
and  is  the  pastor  at  this  date,  1874. 

The  population  of  Madison  this  year  (1851),  was  2,306. 

We  are  indebted  to  Rev.  J.  G.  Miller,  of  this  city  for  the 
following  history  of  the  Church  of  the  Evangelical  Association 
of  Madison: 

“The  first  German  preaching  in  Madison,  while  Wisconsin 
was  a  Territory,  was  in  the  year  1844,  by  the  Rev.  J.  G. 
.Miller,  from  Ohio,  who  was  appointed  by  the  Evangelical 
Association  of  that  state,  and  sent  by  their  annual  conference 
in  1844,  as  missionary  to  Galena  Mission —  which  field  of  labor 
included  a  part  of  Illinois,  Iowa  and  Wisconsin. 

“  His  journey  commenced  from  Galena  north,  in  company  with 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN.  227 

Rev.  John  Seibert  (the  first  and  then  only  Bishop  of  the  Evan¬ 
gelical  Association),  to  Platteville,  Potosi,  Beetown,  Mineral 
Point  and  Prairie  du  Sac.  They  were  the  first  German  minis¬ 
ters  who  crossed  the  Wisconsin  river.  The  Bishop  leaving  him 
at  this  point,  he  continued  on  to  Portage  City,  Fond  dn  Lac, 
Calumet,  Green  Bay,  Two  Rivers,  Milwaukee,  Prairieville  and 
Jefferson  to  Madison,  where  he  found  a  few  German  families 
from  Pennsylvania,  by  the  names  of  Mallo  and  Stoner,  also  a 
few  other  Europeans,  to  whom  he  preached  from  time  to  time 
in  private  houses. 

u  In  1845,  the  Illinois  Conference  assigned  him  the  entire  Ter¬ 
ritory  of  Wisconsin,  named  Winnebago  Mission.  His  field  of 
labor  extended  over  four  or  five  hundred  miles,  in  which  he 
found  many  Germans  who  had  not  heard  the  Gospel  preached 
from  two  to  six  years.  He  traveled  from  four  to  five  thousand 
miles  annually;  his  salary  for  the  first  year  amounted  to  $40.98, 
and  the  second  year  to  $47.52. 

“  In  1846  the  conference  saw  fit  to  change  the  name  of  Win¬ 
nebago  Mission  to  Madison  Mission,  and  owing  to  the  then  pre¬ 
vailing  custom  of  the  Evangelical  Association  of  changing  min¬ 
isters  every  one  or  two  years,  they  appointed  the  Rev.  Benj. 
Eply,  from  Illinois,  as  missionary,  who,  in  consequence  of  sick¬ 
ness  and  other  causes,  was  obliged  in  part  to  neglect  Madison. 

“  The  following  year,  Madison  was  taken  in  charge  by  Rev. 
M.  Howard,  from  Jefferson. 

“About  this  time,  the  German  population  of  Madison  com¬ 
menced  increasing  quite  rapidly,  and  in  1848  and  ’49,  they  were 
often  visited  by  Rev.  J.  G.  Miller,  who  preached  to  them,  but 
during  his  absence  of  five  years  to  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland, 
the  conference  appointed  Rev.  C.  A.  Schnake,  who  in  1853, 
was  ordered  to  organize  the  society  and  to  commence  the  build¬ 
ing  of  a  church,  which  was  erected  the  following  year,  in  charge 
of  Rev.  W.  Strasberger,  and  finished  in  1856  by  Rev.  J.  G. 
Miller,  the  membership  being  then  about  fifty. 

“  The  church  being  somewhat  out  of  the  way,  the  conference 
ordered  the  erection  of  the  second  church  —  the  present  white 
brick  building  at  a  cost  of  about  seven  thousand  dollars,  includ- 


228 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


ing  lot,  located  corner  of  Pinckney  and  Mifflin  streets,  which 
was  completed  in  1865,  under  the  directions  of  Rev.  W.  F. 
Schneider. 

u  The  present  membership,  numbering  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty,  is  in  charge  of  Rev.  C.  F.  Finger  and  is  in  a  prosper¬ 
ous  condition.  The  following  are  the  names  of  the  ministers 
of  the  Association:  Rev.  J.  Esslinger,  Rev.  A.  Hitlster,  P. 
Held,  G.  Fritsche,  J.  Hallacher,  W.  F.  Kaufman,  F.  Zim¬ 
merman,  — —  Von  Essen,  F.  Hudster.” 

The  corporation  election  of  1852  was  held  March  1,  and  the 
following  officers  elected:  Chauncey  Abbott,  President;  H- 
A.  Tenney,  J.  H.  Lewis,  F.  G.  Tibbits,  E.  L.  Varney,  P.  H. 
Van  Bergen  and  Michael  Friend,  Trustees;  R.  L.  Ream, 
Clerk;  J.  J.  Starks,  Treasurer;  A.  Bishop,  Assessor;  J.  D. 
Welch,  Marshal.  The  town  election  was  held  April  7,  the  same 
year,  when  the  following  persons  were  elected:  Philo  Dun¬ 
ning,  X.  Jordan  and  J.  R.  Larkin,  Supervisors;  James  Don- 
nellon,  Town  Clerk;  C.  Zwicky,  Treasurer;  M.  Joyce  and 
R.  L.  Ream,  Assessors;  D.  Clark,  Superintendent  of  Schools, 
and  William  Welch  and  A.  Ogden,  Justices  of  the  Peace. 

On  the  25th  of  May  proposals  were  advertised  to  be  received 
for  the  erection  of  the  new  hotel  for  the  Madison  Hotel  Com¬ 
pany,  to  be  completed  by  December  1,  signed  by  L.  J.  Farwell, 
L.  B.  Vilas  and  E.  B.  Dean,  Jr.,  Executive  Committee.  The 
building  was  to  have  sixty-six  feet  front  on  Main  street,  and 
eighty-six  feet  on  Wisconsin  avenue,  five  stories  high,  built  of 
brick  with  stone  fronts,  to  contain  ninety-six  rooms.  The  work 
was  commenced  and  the  walls  of  the  foundation  and  the  first 
story  of  the  Capital  House  were  laid  this  season.  The  hotel 
Company  as  originally  composed,  proved  a  failure;  they  were  un¬ 
fortunate  in  letting  their  contract,  and  the  work  was  suspend¬ 
ed,  when  Messrs.  Vilas,  Fairchild,  and  Farwell  bought  the 
property  in  the  spring  of  1853,  and  completed  the  Hotel  the 
same  season.  The  cost  of  the  same  was  about  $25,000. 

The  celebration  of  July  4,  was  carried  on  this  year  without 
any  serious^accident.  The  officers  of  the  day  were:  Gov.  L.  J. 
Farwell,  President;  E.  Brigham,  A.  Botkin,  J.  C.  Fairchild, 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


229 


N.  B.  Eddy,  John  Gray,  Vice  Presidents;  Beriah  Brown 
and  B.  F.  Hopkins,  Secretaries;  D.  Atwood,  Marshal,  with 
W.*N.  Seymour  and  N.  W.  Dean,  aids;  John  H.  Latiirop, 
LL.  D.;  Chancellor  of  the  University,  as  Orator;  and  Rev.  Chas. 
Lord,  Chaplain. 

Williams  and  Noland,  who  had  leased  the  grounds  of  N. 
W.  &  E.  B.  Dean,  on  Wisconsin  Avenue,  near  the  present  res¬ 
idence  of  Prof.  S.  H.  Carpenter,  had  an  impromtu  celebration, 
at  which  Leopold  Lathrop  delivered  an  address.  Fireworks 
in  the  evening. 

The  year  1852,  was  marked  by  a  number  of  important  im¬ 
provements,  owing  to  the  near  advent  of  the  railroad  to  this 
place  and  the  advantages  to  be  gained  thereby.  It  gave  an  in¬ 
centive  to  all  branches  of  business  enterprise,  and  lots  were  in 
demand  and  new  buildings  almost  if  not  equal  to  the  ability  of 
mechanics  to  put  up.  Among  the  important  improvements 
may  be  noticed  the  stone  building  erected  by  Marshal  & 
Ilsley  on  Pinckney  street  occupied  by  the  State  Bank.  This 
was  the  first  bank  organized  under  the  general  banking  law  of 
the  state,  and  issued  the  first  bank  bill  put  in  circulation;  the 
large  stone  block  three  stories  high,  built  by  John  Catlin  and 
Simeon  Mills,  the  same  being  forty-four  feet  front  on  King 
street;  the  upper  part  being  occupied  as  a  theatre  by  Mr.  Lan- 
grishe;  G.  C.  Albee’s  brick  store  on  Pinckney  street;  and 
about  eighty  private  residences  erected. 

Gov.  Farwell  commenced  the  work  of  reclaiming  the  low 
wet  land  northwest  of  the  Capitol,  ditched  and  planted  Wash¬ 
ington  avenue,  and  planted  some  six  thousand  forest  trees, 
mostly  cotton-wood  and  soft  maple  from  the  bottom  lands  of 
the  Wisconsin  river,  along  the  streets.  The  low,  moist  nature 
of  the  ground  is  well  adapted  to  these  trees,  and  they  have  had 
a  fine  growth.  The  lands  referred  to,  which  were  previous  to 
this  time,  wet  and  marshy,  have  become  so  much  improved  and 
benefited  that  they  are  at  this  time  quite  valuable.  Some  sixty 
hands  were  employed  in  this  improvement. 

The  Wisconsin  Palladium ,  of  July  27,  1852,  gives  a  list  of 
manufacturing  establishments  then  in  operation :  by  water  — 


230 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


Farwell  &  Co.’s  large  grist  mill,  one  saw  mill  and  turning 
latlie,  machine  for  wool  carding  under  charge  of  Dawson  & 
Co.,  a  brewery  by  J.  Keyes;  and  by  steam  —  a  sawmill  by 
Ilsley  &  Co.;  planing  mill  by  H.  C.  Parker;  oil  mill,  Dean, 
Ruggles  &  Co.  ;  machine  shop  and  foundry,  by  Barnes  &  Co.; 
bedstead  and  chairs,  Conger,  Green  &  Co.;  printing  press, 
Brown,  Carpenter  &  Co.;  Noland  &  Co.,  hominy  manufac¬ 
turers.  The  following  were  some  of  the  prominent  merchants 
in  the  year  1852:  Tibbits  &  Gordon,  Wells  &  Hoyt,  Donald¬ 
son  &  Tredway,  Gray  &  Starks,  N.  W.  Dean,  Jas.  R.  Mears, 
Lewis  &  Holden,  Thos.  Reynolds,  Wright  &  Tenney,  Platt 
&  Chapman,  Weed  &  Eberhard,  D.  Holt,  J.  T.  Marston. 

On  the  15th  of  June,  1852,  the  two  Democratic  papers,  The 
Argus  and  The  Democrat ,  were  merged  in  one,  and  Beriah 
Brown  and  Steph.  D.  Carpenter  became  joint  editors  and 
proprietors  of  the  consolidated  paper,  which  retained  the  name 
of  both  the  old  ones.  The  year  following,  Mr.  Carpenter 
retired  and  Elias  A.  Calkins  was  associated  with  Mr.  Brown 
until  1855,  when  the  latter  sold  his  interest  to  James  K. 
Proudfit.  Calkins  &  Proudfit  were  partners  in  the  publi¬ 
cation  until  May,  1857,  when  Proudfit  was  succeeded  by  Geo. 
Webb,  and  was  continued  until  the  summer  of  1859,  with  some 
other  changes,  when  it  was  discontinued,  and  the  printing  ma¬ 
terials  were  purchased  by  the  Patriot  and  State  Journal  offices. 

The  Wisconsin  State  Journal  was  established  by  David  At¬ 
wood,  in  September,  1852,  and  the  first  number  of  the  daily 
bears  date  September  80,  and  was  a  five  column  paper.  The 
furniture  was  entirely  new,  and  the  fixtures  purchased  ex¬ 
pressly  for  the  office.  It  was  first  issued  as  a  Whig  paper,  but, 
on  the  reorganization  of  parties,  became  an  advocate  of  the 
principles  and  measures  of  the  Republican  party.  Horace 
Rublee  was  connected  as  associate  editor  in  1853,  and  in  1854 
was  interested  as  a  partner.  George  Gary  came  May  1,  1855, 
but  retired  in  1856.  Harrison  Reed  was  interested  in  its  pub¬ 
lication,  1859,  retiring  in  1861,  since  which  last  date  the  paper 
has  been  successfully  published  by  Atwood  &  Rublee,  and  At¬ 
wood  &  Culver,  the  latter  gentleman  purchasing  the  interest 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


23l 


of  Mr.  Rublee  on  liis  receiving  the  appointment  of  Minister 
Resident  at  Switzerland. 

The  Wisconsin  Patriot  was  issued  on  the  17th  of  June,  1854,, 
by  J.  T.  Marston  and  H.  A.  Tenney,  editors  and  proprietors. 
It  was  a  Democratic  paper  and  edited  with  force  and  ability. 
It  was  published,  with  numerous  changes  in  its  management* 
until  November  14,  1864,  when  its  publication  was  suspended, 
George  Hyer  was  connected  with  Mr.  Carpenter  for  a  while, 
and  also  Prof.  S.  H.  Carpenter,  now  of  the  State  University, 

The  assessed  valuation  of  the  property  of  the  village  was, 
(1852),  real  estate,  $162,785:  personal,  $39,780;  total,  $202,565, 
The  amount  of  tax,  $1,012.82.  The  number  of  votes  polled  at 
the  spring  election  was  300. 

The  first  public  meeting  of  the  Madison  Young  Men’s  Asso¬ 
ciation  was  held  at  the  Court  House  on  the  9th  of  February, 
1853,  with  an  address  by  J.  N.  Jewett,  and  a  discussion  on  the 
annexation  of  Cuba,  in  which  H.  J.  Northrop,  C.  T.  Wake- 
ley,  A.  D.  Gray,  B.  F.  Hopkins,  J.  H.  Lewis  and  J.  N.  Jew¬ 
ett  were  disputants.  On  the  11th  of  February,  the  Statesmans 
announces  that  arrangements  are  being  made  to  have  a  course 
of  free  lectures  during  the  year;  Dr.  A.  P.  Ladd,  H.  S.  Orton, 
J.  H.  Lathrop,  O.  M.  Conover,  Rev.  W.  Thompson,  S.  H, 
Carpenter,  A.  F.  Carman,  J.  R.  Baltzell  and  others  have 
proposed  to  assist  in  carrying  out  the  plan.  The  first  lecture 
was  delivered  February  15,  1853,  by  Harlow  S.  Orton,  Esq., 
on  “Human  Equality.” 

The  annual  town  meeting  was  held  April  5,  and  the  follow¬ 
ing  persons  were  elected:  J.  T.  Marston,  W.  D.  Bird  and  DV 
A.  Barnard,  Supervisors;  James  Donnellon,  Clerk;  C.  M, 
Rouse,  Assessor;  J.  W.  Hunt,  School  Superintendent;  and  J, 
R.  Larkin  and  W.  N.  Seymour,  Justices  of  the  Peace.  The 
annual  election  for  corporation  officers  resulted  as  follows: 

A.  Tenney,  President;  F.  G.  Tibbits,  L.  Cannon,  D.  Atwood, 

B.  F.  O’Bryan,  C.  Zwicky  and  A.  Wilcox,  Trustees;  Wi, 
Welch,  Clerk;  J.  J.  Starks,  Treasurer;  A.  Manning,  MarsbaL 

On  the  23d  of  March,  1853,  the  Milwaukee  and  Mississippi 
Railroad  Company  contracted  with  Chamberlain  Cook  to  com- 


232 


HIS  TOBY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


plete  the  road  to  Stoughton  by  September  1, 1853,  and  to  Madi¬ 
son,  January  1,  1854. 

On  the  6th  day  of  February,  a  meeting  of  the  members  of  the 
Baptist  church  was  held  at  the  Court  House,  to  organize  said 
church  under  the  laws  of  the  state,  at  which  meeting  Deacon 
Daniel  Gorum  was  chairman.  Rev.  M.  D.  Miller,  Daniel 
Gorum,  John  W.  Hunt,  Elisha  W.  Keyes  and  Willett  S. 
Main,  were  elected  Trustees,  and  the  meeting  empowered  the 
Trustees  to  purchase  a  lot  for  a  church,  and  to  raise  means  by 
subscription  for  the  erection  of  a  church  building.  At  a  sub¬ 
sequent  meeting  of  the  Trustees,  held  February  14,  Rev.  M.  D. 
Miller  was  appointed  agent  of  the  Society  to  purchase  the  lot, 
circulate  subscriptions  and  to  superintend  the  erection.  On  the 
25th  of  August,  the  sum  of  $3,300  was  subscribed,  the  lot  pur¬ 
chased  (lot  5  in  block  74),  and  considerable  progress  made  in 
the  building.  The  work  was  vigorously  prosecuted  under  the  di¬ 
rection  of  Rev.  M.  D.  Miller,  who  had  been  elected  pastor  of  the 
church,  and  the  building  was  ready  for  occupancy  in  Septem¬ 
ber,  1854,  and  was  dedicated  on  the  3d  of  that  month,  Rev.  J.  A. 
Smith,  of  Chicago,  and  Rev.  Dr.  R.  A.  Fyfe,  of  Milwaukee,  as¬ 
sisting.  At  this  time,  the  church  membership  was  forty-one.  The 
church  building  was  constructed  of  brick,  forty-eight  by  sev¬ 
enty-eight  feet  in  size,  with  a  basement,  fitted  up  for  a  lecture 
room,  having  seventy  pews  of  black  walnut  neatly  finished. 
The  church  was  at  that  time  the  best  building  of  the  kind  in 
the  village.  Mr.  Miller  continued  as  pastor  until  his  resigna¬ 
tion  in  1855,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  James  Cooper, 
who  supplied  the  church  for  one  year,  and  in  December,  1856, 
was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Wm.  R.  Brooks,  of  Perry,  N.  Y.,  who 
occupied  the  pulpit  until  December,  1858.  The  church  was 
supplied  by  various  ministers  until  the  summer  of  1866,  when 
Rev.  W.  H.  Brisbane,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  was  invited  to  be¬ 
come  pastor,  who  accepted  the  same  and  served  until  the  time 
of  the  troubles  at  the  South,  when  he  resigned,  and  was 
appointed  chaplain  to  the  First  Wisconsin  Cavalry  Regiment- 
In  1863,  Rev.  J.  E.  Johnson  accepted  a  call  to  preach,  and  oc¬ 
cupied  the  pulpit  until  1865,  when  he  retired,  owing  to  ill 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


233 


health.  He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  J.  C.  C.  Clarke,  of  Chi¬ 
cago,  who  preached  until  1871,  when  Rev.  Mr.  Paige,  of  the 
State  of  Maine,  was  engaged  for  about  a  year,  since  which  time 
the  church  has  had  no  settled  minister. 

From  the  report  of  the  Dane  Baptist  Association,  the  follow¬ 
ing  statistics  are  taken:  in  1850,  there  were  34  members;  in 
1851,  Rev.  Mr.  Whitman,  pastor,  33  members;  1852,  Rev. 
M.  D.  Miller,  40  members;  in  1853,  41  members;  1855,  the 
same;  1856,  61  members;  1857,  68;  1858,  Rev.  Mr.  Brooks  pas¬ 
tor,  50;  1859,81;  1860,  81;  1861,70;  1862,  69;  1863,  Rev.  Mr. 
Johnson,  pastor,  108;  1864,  131;  1865,  135;  1867,  Rev.  J.  C 
C.  Clarke,  pastor,  113;  in  1868,  114. 

On  the  2d  of  July,  a  meeting  was  called  to  organize  a  fire 
company,  signed  by  H.  A.  Tenney,  President,  H.  J.  Northrop, 
SecretarjL 

The  “  Madison  Guards,”  a  military  company  of  50  men,  was 
formed  August  25,  1853,  of  which  J.  D.  Bradford  was  Cap¬ 
tain,  J.  D.  Welch  and  C.  Habich,  Lieutenants. 

The  Madison  Institute  was  incorporated  by  act  of  the  Legis¬ 
lature,  approved  July  13,  1853.  Its  object  was  “for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  establishing  and  sustaining  at  Madison  a  reading  room 
and  library,  and  providing  for  and  instituting  literary  and  sci¬ 
entific  lectures,  and  other  means  of  moral  and  intellectual  im¬ 
provement.” 

The  Madison  Encampment,  I.  0.  0.  F.,  was  instituted,  March 
3,  1853,  with  the  following  officers:  David  H.  Wright,  C.  P.; 
C.  B.  Chapman,  H.  P.;  Jas.  Halpin,  S.  W.;  E.Ilsley,  Scribe; 
H.  Nye,  Treasurer;  E.  S.  Oakley,  J.  W.;  L.  Cannon,  S.;  A. 
P.  Ladd,  G.  E.;  Chapman,  Ilsley  and  Halpin,  Trustees. 

The  assessed  valuation  of  the  propertj7  of  the  village  for  the 
year  1853,  was:  real  property,  $210,680;  personal,  $43,610; 
total,  $254,290.  Tax,  $1,271.45. 

The  number  of  votes  polled  at  the  corporation  election  in 
the  spring,  was  264. 

The  officers  selected  for  the  4th  of  July  celebration  were  L.  B. 
Til  as,  President;  D.  Atwood  and  W.  N.  Seymour,  Vice 
Presidents;  H.  S.  Orton,  Reader;  A.  F.  Carman,  Orator. 

16 


234 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


The  improvements  of  the  village  for  the  year  were  large  and 
valuable.  Col.  J.  C.  Faiechild  erected  his  large  stone  block 
on  the  corner  of  Morris  and  Pinckney  streets.  It  is  built  of 
cream  colored  sandstone,  sixty-six  feet  on  Morris  or  Main 
street,  and  seventy  feet  on  Pinckney  street,  designed  for  three 
stores  on  the  first  floor,  the  second  story  for  offices,  and  the 
third,  a  large  and  commodious  hall,  60  by  66  feet.  The  base¬ 
ment  rooms  are  entered  by  a  stone  stairway  on  Pinckney  street. 
W.  D.  Beuen,  Esq.,  of  New  Jersey,  erected  his  elegant  block 
on  Pinckney  street  and  Washington  avenue.  It  is  four  stories 
high  beside  the  basement,  80  feet  on  Pinckney  street  and  90  on 
the  avenue,  built  of  sandstone,  well  dressed,  and  tooth-chiseled 
style;  the  basement  is  reached  by  stone  stairs,  and  divided  into 
five  rooms.  The  first  floor,  divided  into  five  large  stores,  the 
walls  12i  feet  between  the  joists,  fronts  of  double  flint  French 
glass,  36  by  46  inches,  supported  by  12  stone  and  iron  pillars. 
The  second  floor  is  reached  by  a  five  foot  entrance  on  Pinckney 
street,  with  a  flight  of  stone  stairs,  and  from  the  avenue  by  the 
two  flights  of  iron  stairs,  and  iron  balcony,  40  feet  long  — 
divided  into  ten  large  and  convenient  offices.  The  third  floor 
into  three  large  rooms  or  offices;  and  the  fourth  story  in  one 
large  concert  room,  with  ante-chambers;  with  an  observatory, 
and  was  considered  the  most  beautiful  and  costly  block  in 
the  State  at  the  time.  J.  L.  Roundy  was  the  architect  and 
builder:  Andeus  Viall,  master  mason;  A.  S.  Wood,  stone 
cutter.  A  new  jail,  nearly  completed,  fronts  on  Henry  streetT 
and  nearly  in  the  rear  of  the  Court  House.  It  is  36  feet  by  56 
feet,  two  stories  high;  the  front  part  and  basement  used  as  the 
jailor’s  residence;  the  jail  proper  is  divided  into  fourteen  cells, 
eight  below  and  six  above,  those  in  the  second  story  being  con¬ 
siderably  larger  than  those  in  the  first.  It  is  built  by  the 
county  of  Dane.  Jona.  Laekin,  A.  A.  Bied  and  J.  R.  Laekin, 
contractors,  receiving  $6,900.  The  lot  cost  $400,  with  fencing, 
etc.,  making  in  all  about  $7,500.  The  Presbyterian  church 
edifice  was  this  year  (1853)  completed. 

The  foundation  of  the  Catholic  Cathedral  was  laid  November 
17th,  and  the  corner  stone  laid  with  appropriate  ceremony  by 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


235 


Bishop  Henni,  May,  28, 1854,  on  the  grounds  opposite  the  Court 
House  on  Main  street.  It  is  to  be  120  feet  in  length  by  60  in 
width,  of  fine  cut  stone.  The  edifice  when  completed  will  be 
a  magnificent  structure  of  great  architectural  beauty.  The 
spire  is  designed  to  have  a  height  of  150  feet. 

During  the  year  Washington  avenue  was  opened  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Capitol  park,  and  King,  now  State  street  was- 
very  much  improved. 

During  the  fall,  the  Milwaukee  and  Mississippi  Railroad 
Company  selected  their  depot  grounds,  and  the  depot  build¬ 
ing  put  under  contract;  the  building  to  be  one  hundred  and 
fifteen  long  by  fifty  feet  wide,  walls  eighteen  feet  high,  piazza 
and  platform  ten  feet  wide  on  each  side  —  to  be  built  of  stone, 
and  to  be  completed  by  January  1,  1854.  The  contract  was 
awarded  to  Bird  and  Larkin'  who  faithfully  performed  the 
work.  The  freight  depot,  engine  house  and  other  buildings 
were  soon  after  erected. 

At  the  time  the  grounds  were  selected,  which  are  now 
sprinkled  over  with  warehouses,  dwellings,  etc.,  they  were 
covered  with  a  thick  growth  of  coppice  wood,  and  the  whole 
tract  between  the  freight  depot  and  the  lake  was  a  dense 
thicket  of  poplar  and  crab  and  plum  trees. 

During  the  year,  spiles  were  driven,  and  a  beginning  made  at 
building  the  railroad  bridge  over  the  bay  of  Lake  Monona.  The 
bridge  was  finished  in  the  spring  of  1854  and  the  depot  com¬ 
pleted. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  completed  and  dedi¬ 
cated  on  the  11th  of  September,  1853. 

H.  S.  Orton,  Esq.,  delivered  an  address  at  the  Court  House, 
October  3,  1853,  on  the  death  of  Lieut.  Gov.  Timothy  Burns. 

In  the  fall  of  the  year,  we  find  that  the  Court  House  was 
used  on  Sunday  as  a  house  of  worship.  On  the  10th  of  Octo¬ 
ber,  Rev.  Henry  Powers  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
preached  at  10L  o’clock  A.  M.;  Rev.  M.  D.  Miller,  Baptist,  at 
2i  P.  M.,  and  Rev.  H.  B.  Gardiner,  Presbyterian,  at  4  P.  M. 
No  notice  of  its  being  occupied  in  the  evening. 

Daniel  Gorum  built  a  steam  saw  mill  on  Lake  Mendota 


236 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  ARD  THE 


near  the  University  grounds,  during  the  year.  It  was  bought 
by  I.  E.  Brown  in  1856,  and  changed  to  a  foundry  —  pur¬ 
chased  by  P.  H.  Turner  in  1859,  and  by  him  sold  to  E.  W. 
Skinner.  Mr.  0.  S.  Willey,  became  a  partner  in  1861  and 
Hon.  S.  D.  Hastings  in  1865.  This  establishment  did  a  large 
business  in  the  manufacture  of  sugar  mills;  in  the  year  1865 
upwards  of  500  of  these  mills  were  sold. 

The  property  now  (1874)  belongs  to  the  Madison  Manu¬ 
facturing  Company. 

Dr.  J.  Warren  Hunt,  in  his  Wisconsin  Gazetteer ,  pub¬ 
lished  in  1853,  says  of  Madison:  u  The  present  population  is 
about  3,500,  with  700  dwellings,  26  stores,  15  groceries,  11 
taverns,  2  large  printing  offices  and  a  book  bindery  -  a  grist  mill 
with  eight  run  of  stone,  3  saw  mills,  one  iron  foundry,  a  woolen 
factory,  an  oil  mill,  2  steam  planing  mills,  a  hominy  mill  pro¬ 
pelled  by  steam;  a  bank,  the  first  organized  in  the  State;  three 
churches,  with  three  others  to  be  built  during  the  present 
season  ;  and  mechanical  shops  of  all  kinds.” 

1854.  On  the  8th  of  April,  a  meeting  was  held  to  organize 
the  Madison  Institute,  under  the  new  charter,  at  which  time  a 
system  of  by-laws  was  submitted,  and  an  election  held  to  select 
officers  for  the  year.  The  following  persons  were  elected: 
J.  H.  Lathrop,  LL.  I).,  President;  G.  P.  Delaplaine,  J.  R. 
Baltzell  and  W.  A.  White,  Vice  Presidents;  Frank  H.  Fir¬ 
min',  Recording  Secretary;  B.  F.  Hopkins,  Corresponding  Sec¬ 
retary;  J.  J.  Starks,  Treasurer;  H.  A.  Tenney,  Librarian, 
with  a  board  of  twelve  Directors.  A  spacious  reading  room 
was  opened  in  the  third  story  of  Bruen’s  Block,  and  the  tables 
well  supplied  with  the  periodical  and  newspaper  press  of  the 
day.  A  department  for  debate  was  organized  and  a  series  of 
lectures  to  be  delivered  during  the  winter  months. 

The  village  corporation  election  took  place  in  March,  and 
the  following  persons  elected:  Simeon  Mills,  President;  P.  H. 
Van  Bergen,  G.  C.  Albee,  G.  M.  Oakley,  resigned,  and  Chas. 
Weed,  elected,  Michael  Friend,  J.  Livesey,  A.  Bishop, 
Trustees;  D.  Noble  Johnson,  Clerk;  D.  Clark,  Treasurer; 
D.  C.  Bush,  Assessor;  and  I.  E.  Brown,  Marshal;  and  at  the 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


237 


election  of  town  officers,  on  the  5th  of  April,  Jehu  H.  Lewis, 
E.  Summers  and  H.  J.  Hill  were  elected  Supervisors;  J.  Don- 
nellon,  Clerk;  E.  Doerschlag,  Treasurer;  David  Holt, 
Superintendent  of  Schools,  and  A.  Ogden  and  A.  B.  Braley, 
Justices  of  the  Peace. 

In  April,  1851,  Damon  Y.  Kilgore  was  engaged  as  Princi¬ 
pal  of  the  public  school,  and  commenced  his  labors  in  the 
small  brick  school  house  on  Washington  avenue,  now  known 
as  the  “  Little  Brick  School  House.”  On  the  first  day  there 
were  twenty-three  pupils  present,  of  different  grades,  speaking 
different  languages  and  presenting  a  variegated  appearance. 
For  various  reasons,  several  of  the  pupils  were  sent  home  the 
first  day  to  be  prepared  for  school  in  a  proper  manner  (a 
judicious  use  of  soap  and  water),  most  of  whom  returned  in  the 
afternoon  very  much  improved  in  appearance.  The  number 
gradually  increased  until  the  house  would  not  accommodate 
the  pupils,  and  the  school  was  removed  to  the  basement  of  the 
Methodist  church.  Here  the  school  was  no  less  crowded  than 
before.  In  the  winter  term,  there  were  two  hundred  sixty- 
seven  pupils  in  one  room.  This  term,  he  was  assisted  by  his 
sister,  Miss  Abby  L.  Kilgore. 

In  the  mean  time,  efforts  were  being  made  to  incorporate  the 
village  of  Madison  into  a  separate  school  district.  On  the  25th 
of  September,  1854,  a  meeting  was  held  and  a  committee  con¬ 
sisting  of  W.  B.  Jarvis,  C.  Abbot,  D.  J.  Powers,  G.  P.  Dela- 
plaine,  S.  G.  Stacy  and  W.  A. White  was  appointed,  whose  duty 
it  was  to  procure  the  passage  of  an  act  by  the  next  legislature 
for  the  more  efficient  and  permanent  organization  of  the  vil¬ 
lage  of  Madison  as  a  school  district. 

The  following  notice  will  show  the  result  of  the  efforts  of  the 
committee,  and  the  first  organization  of  the  present  Board  of 
Education : 

“  School  Meeting. — Notice  is  hereby  given,  that,  pursuant 
to  an  act  entitled  1  an  act  incorporating  the  village  of  Madi¬ 
son  into  a  separate  School  District,1  approved  February  13, 
1855,  a  meeting  of  the  qualified  voters  of  said  district  will  be 
held  at  the  school  room,  in  the  Vestry  of  the  Methodist  church 


238 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


on  Tuesday  February  20,  1855,  at  7  P.  M.,  to  select  six  persons 
as  the  Board  of  Education  of  said  village,  and  for  tlie  transac¬ 
tion  of  such  other  business  as  may  come  before  them  under 
the  provisions  of  said  act.  D.  S.  Durrie, 

“  Clerk  of  School  District  No.  1.  Madison .” 

David  H.  Wright  was  elected  Chairman  of  this  meeting, 
and  Frank  H.  Firming  Clerk.  Six  School  Directors  were 
elected,  who  should  constitute  the  Board  of  Education  of  the 
village  of  Madison,  comprising  the  following  gentlemen:  Sim¬ 
eon  Mills,  W.  B.  Jarvis,  L.  J.  Farwell,  J.  Y.  Smith,  D.  H* 
Wright  and  W.  A.  White. 

In  the  month  of  May,  1854,  a  fire  proof  stone  building  was 
put  on  the  grounds  belonging  to  the  Court  House,  for  the 
offices  of  the  county  clerk,  register  of  deeds  and  judge  of  pro¬ 
bate.  The  building  was  of  stone,  one  story  high,  44  feet  in 
length  by  27  feet  in  width.  The  work  was  performed  by  A.  A. 
Bird,  the  contractor. 

The  Capital  House  was  completed*  and  occupied  this  season. 
Mr.  T.  Stevens  took  charge  as  landlord  on  a  lease  for  a  term 
of  years.  He  furnished  the  house  in  a  superior  manner. 

The  railroad  bridge  of  the  M.  and  M.  Railroad  Co.,  begun  the 
previous  year,  was  finished  in  the  spring  of  1854,  and  the  first 
train  of  passenger  cars  came  across  the  bridge  on  Thursday  the 
18th  of  May.  The  track,  however,  was  not  laid  up  to  the  depot 
until  the  Monday  succeeding;  and  on  Tuesday  the  23d,  thecel- 
bration  took  place. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  an  article  in  the  Daily  State 
Journal  of  that  date  relative  to  the  celebration: 

“Never  was  a  day  more  auspicious.  The  heavens  were 
cloudless,  the  air  warm  but  not  sultry,  and  in  the  golden  floods 
of  sunlight,  the  wide  landscape  of  lake  and  forest  and  prairie, 
which  forms  the  charming  environment  of  our  village,  was 
4  like  a  bright  eyed  face  that  laughs  out  openly.1  We  trust  that 
this  is  an  omen  of  the  success  and  future  prosperity  of  the  rail¬ 
road,  and  the  enterprising,  public  spirited  men  under  whose 
auspices  it  has  been  thus  far  steadily  pushed  forward. 

“  There  was  a  larger  turnout  from  the  country  than  we  had 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


239 


anticipated.  By  10  o’clock,  our  streets  were  filled  with  teams, 
and  the  sidewalks  crowded  with  people.  A  great  many  of  them 
were  men  who  had  settled  in  the  country  at  an  early  day  and 
had  never  seen  a  locomotive  railroad. 

“  By  one  o’clock  P.  M.,  the  grounds  about  the  depot  were 
thronged  with  people  anxiously  obeying  the  injunction  so  com¬ 
mon  along  railroads,  and  looking  out  for  the  engine.  We 
should  judge  that  at  least  two  thousand  persons  from  the  coun¬ 
try  were  about  the  depot  and  at  the  end  of  the  bridge  where 
the  railroad  crosses  the  bay.  There  were  conflicting  reports 
respecting  the  time  when  the  cars  would  arrive,  and  the  people 
had  assembled  rather  earlier  than  they  would  otherwise,  for 
that  reason.  Bright  colored  parasols,  ranged  in  groups  along 
the  shore,  lent  liveliness  to  the  scene. 

“  The  train  did  not  arrive  until  a  little  after  two  o’clock,  and 
many  were  growing  impatient  at  the  delay.  At  length,  the 
unmistakable  whistle  of  the  engine  was  heard,  and  the  long 
train,  with  two  locomotives  at  its  head  swept  grandly  into 
sight  —  thirty-two  cars  crowded  with  people,  and  drawn  by  two 
locomotives.  At  the  rear  of  the  train  were  several  racks,  oc¬ 
cupied  by  the  Milwaukee  Fire  Companies  in  gay  red  uniforms, 
with  their  glistening  engines.  Bands  of  music  attended  them, 
and,  at  intervals,  as  the  train  moved  slowly  across  the  bridge, 
the  piece  of  artillery,  brought  along  by  the  firemen,  was  dis¬ 
charged.  It  was  a  grand  but  strange  spectacle  to  see  this  mons¬ 
ter  train,  like  some  huge,  unheard  of  thing  of  life,  with  breath  of 
smoke  and  flame,  emerging  from  the  green  openings  —  scenes 
of  pastoral  beauty  and  quietude  —  beyond  the  placid  waters  of 
the  lake. 

“  From  two  thousand  to  two  thousand  five  hundred  people 
were  on  the  train.  On  reaching  the  depot  they  were  welcomed, 
in  a  brief  address  by  A.  A.  Bird,  Esq.,  the  President  of  the 
Day,  which  was  responded  to  in  appropriate  manner  by  A. 
Finch,  Jr.,  the  attorney  of  the  railroad  company.  E.  B.  Dean, 
Jr.,  and  Thomas  Reynolds  were  the  marshals.  A  procession 
was  formed,  and  the  multitude  proceeded  to  the  Capital  Park, 
where  tables  were  spread  and  a  dinner  prepared.  The  comple- 


240 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


tion  of  this  road  has  infused  fresh  vitality  and  energy  into- 
every  channel  of  business,  and  has  already  doubled  the  trade 
and  will  speedily  double  the  population  of  Madison.  It  is  to  be 
continued  on  to  the  Mississippi  and  completed  at  the  earliest 
time  practicable.” 

The  Regents  of  the  University,  at  their  meeting  in  Februaryr 
1854,  appointed  a  committee  to  advertise  for  bids  for  the  con¬ 
struction  of  the  second  dormitory  building  on  the  plan  of  the 
first.  The  contract  was  awarded  to  Messrs.  A.  A.  Bird  and  W. 
Larkin,  who,  with  good  and  sufficient  sureties,  undertook  to 
complete  the  building  on  or  before  the  1st  of  June,  1855,  for 
the  sum  $18,000. 

The  north  half  of  the  edifice  wfill  contain  sixteen  study  rooms, 
with  bed-rooms  and  closets  attached.  In  the  other  portions  of 
the  building,  north  of  the  south  entry,  are  four  public  rooms, 
one  in  each  story,  thirty-six  by  twenty-three  feet;  on  the  lower 
floor,  the  laboratory;  on  the  second,  the  cabinet  of  minerals  and 
specimens  in  other  departments  of  physical  science;  on  the 
third,  the  philosophical  chamber;  and  on  the  fourth,  the  lib¬ 
rary.  The  extreme  south  wing  is  to  be  finished  for  residence, 
or  for  occupation  for  such  studies  as  may  be  deemed  expedient. 

In  this  year,  Gov.  L.  J.  Farwell  sold  to  the  State  one  hundred 
acres  of  land  on  the  north  side  of  lake  Mendota  for  the  location 
of  the  u  Hospital  for  the  Insane.”  It  is  about  three  miles  from 
Madison  by  a  direct  line  across  the  lake  and  six  miles  by  car¬ 
riage  road.  The  grounds  also  adjoin  the  track  of  the  Chicago 
and  Northwestern  railroad.  By  an  act  of  the  legislature,  ap¬ 
proved  March  30,  1854,  the  Governor  was  authorized  to  appoint 
commissioners  to  prepare  plans  and  let  a  contract  for  the  erec¬ 
tion  of  a  lunatic  asylum,  substantially  on  the  plan  of  the 
asylum  in  Worcester,  Mass.,  both  in  respect  to  design  and  ex¬ 
pense.  In  pursuance  of  this  act,  Gov.  Barstow  appointed  com¬ 
missioners  and  a  superintendent.  The  contract  was  awarded 
to  Andrew  Proudfit,  and  the  work  commenced.  On  the  as¬ 
sembling  of  the  legislature  in  1855,  that  body  annulled  the 
contract  on  the  ground  that  the  plan  adopted  was  much  more 
extensive  than  had  been  authorized,  and  bore  no  particular  re- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


241 


semblance  to  the  Worcester  Asylum,  as  well  as  for  other  reasons. 
The  result  of  this  action  was  that  the  work  was  suspended.  It 
was  revived  in  1857,  as  will  appear  hereafter. 

During  the  year  1854,  a  new  bridge  was  built  across  the 
Yahara,  or  Catfish;  and  Ex-Governor  L.  J.  Farwell  extended 
Washington  avenue  through  his  lands  to  the  distance  of  a  mile- 
towards  the  northeast.  This  magnificent  avenue,  which  has 
been  opened  by  the  individual  enterprise  of  Governor  Farwell- 
is  now  more  than  two  miles  in  length,  graded  to  a  level,  eight 
rods  in  width,  and  has  a  double  row  of  trees  —  the  inner  row, 
cotton  wood,  and  the  outer,  maples  —  upon  each  side.  It  ter¬ 
minates  at  a  point  where  the  various  roads  coming  into  town 
from  the  east,  northeast  and  southwest,  converge.  When  with¬ 
in  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  Capitol  Park,  it  ascends  by  a  smooth 
and  easy  grade,  the  summit  of  the  elevation  crowned  by  the 
Capitol. 

The  erection  of  the  “  Lake  Side  Water  Cure,”  by  Delaplaine 
&  Burdick,  was  commenced  in  November,  1854,  to  be  com¬ 
pleted  June  1,  1855.  The  site  selected  for  this  institution  is 
one  of  surpassing  beauty,  not  equalled  in  this  countr}r,  if  in 
any  other.  The  grounds  comprise  a  beautiful  oak  grove  of 
fifty  acres,  situated  immediately  across  the  west  point  of  Lake 
Monona  or  Fairy  Lake,  about  two  miles  south  of  the  Capitol, 
and  one  mile  by  water,  and  commanding  a  fine  view  of  the 
city  of  Madison,  the  lakes,  and  the  surrounding  country.  Over 
the  grounds,  just  on  the  edge  of  the  grove,  flows  a  large  and 
beautiful  stream  of  water,  long  known  for  its  purity,  from 
which  the  institution  will  be  supplied.  This  stream  has  its 
source  in  never  failing  springs. 

The  building  stands  upon  an  eminence  about  fifty  feet  above 
the  water,  and  six  hundred  feet  distant  from  the  shore.  The 
main  building  is  ninety-two  feet  in  length  by  forty  in  width,, 
and  four  stories  above  the  basement,  capable  of  accommodating 
from  eighty  to  one  hundred  guests.  There  are  piazzas  extend¬ 
ing  the  whole  length  of  the  building  on  the  first  and  second 
stories.  There  is  also  a  wing  forty  feet  by  thirty-eight,  and 
two  stories  in  height,  which  is  principally  devoted  to  bath- 


242 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


rooms.  The  house  is  warmed  throughout  by  steam  heat  — 
there  is  also  connected  with  the  engine,  apparatus  for  cooking, 
washing,  drying,  ironing,  supplying  reservoir,  etc.,  only  one 
fire  being  necessary  for  the  whole  establishment. 

Dr.  James  E.  Gross  was  resident  physician  at  its  opening. 
For  some  reason,  the  institution  was  not  a  success,  and  was 
.subsequently  altered  and  adapted  for  a  public  house;  as  such, 
it  has  been  well  patronized.  It  is  occupied  only  as  a  summer 
hotel,  and  is  a  favorite  resort  for  visitors  from  St.  Louis  and 
other  southern  cities. 

In  the  month  of  February,  the  Madison  Hydraulic  Company 
was  chartered,  and  was  fully  organized.  Its  object  was  to  fur¬ 
nish  the  inhabitants  a  full  and  certain  supply  at  all  times  of 
pure  fresh  water.  In  doing  so,  arrangements  were  to  be  per¬ 
fected  to  take  water  from  Lake  Mendota  of  a  depth  of  at  least 
twenty  feet,  and,  by  steam  or  other  power,  force  it  into  a  re¬ 
servoir  upon  a  hill  in  the  rear  of  the  University  buildings  — 
this  hill  being  about  forty  feet  higher  than  the  Capitol  park. 
A  six  or  eight  inch  pipe  to  convey  the  water  east  —  the  whole 
length  of  State  street  —  sending  off  smaller  branches  at  the 
intersection  of  streets.  It  was  supposed  that  water  could  be 
conveyed  into  the  third  stories  of  every  building  about  the  park, 
and  much  higher  on  the  lower  grounds.  It  was  also  proposed 
to  have  two  or  more  fountains  in  the  University  grounds,  facing 
the  village,  and  four  within  the  Capitol  park.  The  whole  ex¬ 
pense  not  to  exceed  $40,000.  The  officers  of  the  company 
were,  H.  A.  Tenney,  President;  Wm.  A.  White,  Secretary,  and 
Leonard  J.  Far  well,  Treasurer. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  company  did  not  succeed  in 
carrying  out  their  plans.  There  was  not  a  sufficient  amount 
of  stock  subscribed  to  warrant  the  undertaking,  and  the  pro¬ 
ject  was  abandoned. 

The  Bank  of  the  West  was  organized  March  20,  1852,  with 
a  capital  of  $100,000.  S.  A.  Lowe,  President,  and  W.  L.  Hins¬ 
dale,  Cashier.  The  bank  commenced  business  on  the  second 
floor  of  Bruen's  Block. 

The  Dane  County  Bank  was  organized,  and  went  into  busi- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


243 


ness,  October  2,  1854;  capital,  $50,000.  L.  B.  Vilas,  President; 
L.  J.  Farwell,  Vice  President;  N.  B.  Vah  Slyke,  Cashier; 
S.  V.  Chase,  Teller;  J.  H.  Slayih,  Bookkeeper,  and  W.  F. 
Vilas,  Messenger. 

The  following  table  exhibits  the  growth,  in  population,  of 
Madison,  since  the  first  settlement: 


1837,  - 

I 

1844,  - 

-  2l6 

1851,  - 

-  2,306 

1838,  - 

-  62 

1846,  - 

283 

1852,  - 

2,973 

1840,  - 

-  146 

CO 

1 

-  632 

1853,  " 

-  4,029 

1842, 

-  >  172 

1850,  - 

1,672 

I854,  - 

5,126 

About  1,000  buildings  have  been  erected  here  since  1847;  a 
portion  of  them  of  dressed  stone  and  elegant  style,  with  some 
of  the  finest  blocks  in  the  west.  The  projected  number  this 
year  (1854),  is  350. 


2U 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Horace  Greeley’s  Visit  1855.  —  Elections  1855-’61  — Gas  Light 
and  Coke  Co.  —  Grace  Church  History,  Continued  —  Schools, 
1855-6  —  Public  and  Private  Improvements  —  Congregational 
Church  History,  Continued  —  Fourth  of  July  Celebrations, 
1855-61  —  Incorporation  as  a  City,  1855  —  Business  Firms  — 
Peat  Beds  —  City  Hall  —  University  Buildings  —  Hospital 
for  Insane  Commenced,  and  New  State  Capitol  Projected  — 
Organization  of  Military  Companies  —  Notice  of  Hon.  T. 
W.  Sutherland  —  Of  Col.  James  Morrison  —  City  Improve¬ 
ments —  Rebellion  History,  1861. 

In  the  month  of  March,  1855,  Horace  Greeley  visited 
Madison,  and  in  May,  Bayard  Taylor  made  a  visit.  Both  of 
these  gentlemen  wrote  flattering  letters  of  their  impressions,  to 
the  New  York  Tribune.  Mr.  Greeley  writes: 

“  Madison  has  the  most  magnificent  site  of  any  inland  town 
I  ever  saw,  on  a r  graceful  swell  of  land,  say  two  miles  north 
and  south  by  a  mile  and  a  half  east  and  west,  rising  gently 
from  the  west  hank  of  one  of  a  chain  of  four  lakes,  and  having 
another  of  them  north  northwest  of  it.  These  lakes  must 
each  be  eight  or  ten  miles  in  circumference,  half  surrounded 
by  dry,  clean  oak  forests,  or  rather  ‘  timbered  openings,’  which 
need  but  little  labor  to  convert  them  into  the  finest  parks  in 
which  fair  homes  ever  nestled.  A  spacious  water-cure  estab¬ 
lishment  has  just  been  erected  in  one  of  these  forests  across 
the  lake  south-eastwardly  from  Madison,  and  shows  finely  both 
from  the  city  and  the  railroad  as  you  approach  it.  The  Capitol 
is  toward  the  south  end  of  the  built  up  city,  in  a  fine  natural 
park  of  twenty  acres,  and  is  not  worse  planned  than  most  of 
our  public  buildings.  The  University  crowns  a  beautiful  emi¬ 
nence  a  mile  west  of  the  Capitol,  with  a  main  street  connecting 
them  a  lq  Pennsylvania  avenue.  There  are  more  comfortable 
private  mansions  now  in  progress  in  Madison  than  in  any  other 
place  I  have  visited,  and  the  owners  are  mostly  recent  immi- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


245 


grants  of  means  and  cultivation,  from  New  England,  from 
Cincinnati,  and  even  from  Europe.  Madison  is  growing  very 
fast.  *  *  *  514  She  has  a  glorious  career  before  her.” 

In  consequence  of  the  numerous  favorable  reports  regarding 
Madison  as  a  place  of  business,  published  in  eastern  papers,  no 
western  town  was  more  prominently  brought  before  the  pub¬ 
lic.  Some  of  these  newspaper  correspondents  were  so  profuse 
in  their  compliments  about  the  beauty  and  advantages  of 
Madison  as  a  place  of  settlement,  that  a  marked  effect  was  no¬ 
ticed  in  the  increase  of  population  and  the  advancement  in  the 
prices  of  real  property,  not  only  in  the  village,  but  in  the  ad¬ 
joining  country. 

The  following  persons  were  elected  corporation  officers  for 
the  year  1855:  P.  H.Van  Bergen,  President;  L.  J.  Farwell, 
H.  A.  Tenney,  Wm.  Carroll,  L.  W.  Hoyt,  J.  G.  Griffin  and 
J.  Sumner,  Trustees;  D.  Noble  Johnson,  Clerk;  Alonzo  Wil¬ 
cox,  Treasurer;  D.  C.  Bush,  Assessor,  and  I.  E.  Brown,  Mar¬ 
shal.  At  this  election,  522  votes  were  polled.  The  contest, 
although  warm  in  some  respects,  had  nothing  to  do  with 
politics. 

On  the  17th  of  January,  an  act  of  the  legislature  was 
approved  incorporating  the  Madison  Gas  Light  and  Coke  Com¬ 
pany;  L.  J.  Farwell,  Simeon  Mills,  Julius  P.  Atwood,  Fran¬ 
cis  G.  Tidbits,  Dayid  Atwood,.  Henry  Parkins,  Samuel 
Marshall,  N.  W.  Dean,  B.  F.  Hopkins,  Levi  B.  Vilas  and 
David  J.  Powers,  being  the  corporators,  and  who  were  consti¬ 
tuted  the  first  Board  of  Directors.  The  directors,  at  their  first 
meeting,  elected  J.  P.  Atwood,  President;  B.  F.  Hopkins,  Sec¬ 
retary,  and  L.  J.  Farwell,  Treasurer.  At  the  same  meeting, 
held  January  20th,  a  contract  was  entered  into  with  H.  Park¬ 
ins  &  Co.,  to  erect  the  necessary  buildings  for  the  sum  of 
$35,000.  The  work  was  faithfully  performed,  and  on  the  10th 
of  July,  a  celebration  was  had  in  the  village,  at  which  time,  two 
two  thousand  to  twenty-five  hundred  persons  attended  in  front 
of  the  Capitol.  Speeches  were  made  by  M.  H.  Orton,  W.  N. 
Seymour,  J.  W.  Johnson,  C.  Abbot,  A.  A.  Bird,  and  L.  B. 
Vilas. 


246 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


The  gas  works  were  located  on  the  low  ground,  northeast  of 
the  Capitol,  on  lots  1,  2,  3  and  4  of  block  151.  This  enterprise, 
in  the  hands  of  the  company,  did  not  succeed  as  well  as  had 
been  anticipated.  The  works  were  subsequently  leased  by  the 
company  to  B.  F.  Hopkins,  under  whose  energetic  and  skillful 
management,  the  gas  was  soon  conducted  through  the  prin¬ 
cipal  streets  of  the  town,  and  within  two  years,  had  over 
five  miles  of  pipe  laid,  and  the  enterprise  became  a  decided 
success. 

The  election  of  town  officers  took  place,  April  4,  with  the 
following  result:  H.  J.  Hill,  Chairman;  R.  T.  White  and  R, 
T.  Davis,  Supervisors;  Willet  S.  Main,  Clerk;  C.  G.  Mayeks, 
1^  Reynolds  and  Geo.  A.  Bar  wise,  Assessors;  G.  C.  Albee, 
Treasurer;  Darwin  Clark,  School  Superintendent;  Wm, 
Welch  and  W.  F.  Baker,  Justices  of  the  peace. 

In  the  month  of  May,  Ex  Gov.  L.  J.  Farwell  commenced 
building  an  octagon  house,  three  stories  high,  each  side 
twenty-five  feet  in  length,  making  the  whole  circumference 
two  hundred  feet  —  of  dressed  stone.  It  is  situated  on  Lake 
Monona,  three-quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  capitol.  The  barn 
and  stable  is  of  similar  architecture,  of  stone,  one  hundred  and 
sixty  feet  in  circumference,  the  walls  of  which  were  early  com¬ 
pleted.  John  T.  Martin,  Esq.,  commenced  building  nearly 
the  same  time,  a  fine  two  story  stone  residence  a  short  distance 
east  of  the  former.  Gov.  Farwell  occupied  his  residence  for 
a  few  years  when  it  was  sold  to  Samuel  Marshall,  and 
subsequently  was  enlarged  and  altered  for  a  “  Hospital  for 
Wounded  Soldiers”  during  the  war,  and  more  recently  occu¬ 
pied  as  the  “  Soldiers’  Orphans’  Home.” 

In  April,  1855,  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Britt  an,  of  Dayton,  Ohio,  vis¬ 
ited  Madison,  and  was  invited  to  take  charge  of  the  parish  of 
Grace  church.  The  invitation  was  accepted,  and  he  entered 
upon  the  duties  of  his  charge  June  1,  1855.  The  chapel,  en¬ 
larged  and  refitted  at  an  expense  of  $1,000,  was  occupied  for 
the  first  time  on  Sunday,  the  17th  of  June,  1855.  The  chapel 
being  soon  found  inadequate  to  the  wants  of  the  parish,  a  sub¬ 
scription  was  set  on  foot,  headed  by  a  generous  friend  in  the 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


247 


amount  of  $1,200,  and  soon  reaching  the  sum  of  eight  thou¬ 
sand  dollars,  for  the  erection  of  a  church  edifice.  A  plan  was 
agreed  upon,  and  on  the  25th  of  September,  the  same  year,  the 
foundation  was  commenced. 

The  building  committee  were  ex-Gov.  L.  J.  Farwell,  W.  A, 
Mears,  H.  K.  Lawrence,  P.  H.  V an  Bergen  and  I.  W.  De 
Forrest. 

The  following  account  of  the  building  is  given  in  the 
newspapers  of  that  time.  It  is  in  the  Gothic  style,  and  com¬ 
posed  of  a  tower,  nave  and  chancel.  The  main  entrance  is 
through  the  tower  by  two  large  and  massive  doors.  The  tower 
is  twenty-two  feet  square,  forming  a  spacious  vestibule.  It  will 
be  a  prominent  feature  of  the  structure,  and  is  located  at  the 
corner  of  the  nave  —  fronting  on  the  corner  of  Carroll  street 
and  Washington  avenue.  It  is  supported  at  the  angles  by  mas¬ 
sive  buttresses,  diminishing  as  they  ascend,  and  terminating  in 
handsome  panneled  and  foliated  pinnacles,  at  a  height  of  eight/ 
feet  from  the  sidewalk.  The  whole  height  of  the  tower  and  spire 
is  one  hundred  and  forty  feet  wide,  and  the  building  will  comfort¬ 
ably  seat  six  hundred  persons.  The  walls  are  thirty-three  feet 
high,  and  the  highest  point  of  the  gable  on  which  is  fixed  a 
neat  Greek  cross,  is  fifty-six  feet.  The  east  front  is  lighted  by  a 
large  trillioned  window,  twelve  feet  by  thirty,  and  supplied 
with  stained  glass.  The  sides  and  ends  are  supported  by  heavy 
buttresses  which  add  to  its  strength  and  symmetry.  These 
buttresses  terminate  in  foliated  pinnacles.  The  chancel 
is  twenty-two  by  eighteen  feet,  and  flanked  on  respective  sides- 
by  an  organ  room  and  vestry,  and  is  connected  with  the  nave 
by  a  broad  and  high  arch.  It  is  lighted  at  the  end  by  a  triple 
lancet-window,  with  stained  glass  like  the  one  in  front. 

The  interior  is  to  be  furnished  in  tasteful  and  costly  style; 
the  ceiling  to  be  an  elliptic  Gothic  arch,  richly  adorned  with 
stucco  work,  composed  of  heavy  ribs  —  interlaced  Gothic  arches 
running  from  the  apex  of  the  ceiling  to  the  springing,  and  ter¬ 
minating  there  on  elegantly  carved  corbels.  The  interstices  of 
the  ribs  are  to  be  ornamented  with  carved  bosses.  The  pulpit 
is  of  octagonal  form,  and  located  on  the  south  side  of  the  chan- 


248 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


■cel  arch,  and  is  entered  from  the  vestry;  on  the  north  side  of 
the  chancel  arch  is  the  reading  desk  and  organ.  The  nave  is 
thirty-six  feet  high  from  the  floor  to  the  apex  of  the  ceiling. 
The  plan  was  designed  by  Messrs.  J.  &  A.  Douglas,  of  Milwau¬ 
kee,  and  the  whole  is  estimated  to  cost,  when  completed,  $16,000. 
It  is  to  be  of  cut  stone,  and  when  finished,  will  be  one  of  the 
finest  edifices  in  the  country. 

The  size  of  the  building  will  he  112  by  71  feet.  The  nave,  80 
by  42  feet,  containing  80  pews,  and  will  comfortably  seat  500 
persons. 

The  building  was  in  readiness  for  public  worship  early  in 
.1858;  the  tower,  however,  being  incomplete  and  the  basement 
unfinished.  The  cost  of  the  church,  as  then  completed,  was 
about  $22,000.  In  October,  1861,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brittau  having 
having  accepted  an  appointment  as  chaplain  in  the  army,  ten¬ 
dered  his  resignation  as  rector,  to  take  effect  November  1, 
which  was  accepted. 

A  Madison  paper  of  April  11,  1855,  referring  to  the  improve¬ 
ments  going  on,  says: 

“  Never  before  was  the  building  mania  in  Madison  more  ap¬ 
parent  than  now.  Go  where  you  will  —  visit  whichever  part 
of  town  you  may  —  and  you  see  on  all  sides  —  in  every  nook 
and  corner —  apparently  upon  every  lot,  the  most  active  busy- 
bustle  preparations  for  building.  You  pass  an  untouched, 
vacant  lot  in  the  morning,  and  at  night  you  will  find  it  strew¬ 
ed  over  with  building  materials — a  foundation  laid,  frame  raised 
for  a  good  sized  house,  nearly  clapboarded,  and  partly  painted. 
This  is  what  we  saw  last  week.  There  are  now  no  less  than  150 
and  perhaps  200  buildings  commenced  and  in  the  various  stages 
of  completion,  in  this  town,  to-day,  and  yet  building  has  barely 
commenced.  It  seems  that  everybody  is  coming  to  Madison, 
and  everybody  who  does,  must  build.  One  stimulus  to  building 
this  season,  is  the  fact  that  materials,  etc.,  are  much  cheaper,  as 
we  are  informed,  than  usual.” 

Another  paper  says:  “  Business  in  real  estate  in  our  city 
is  becoming  lively.  We  have  before  us  the  operations  of  a 
single  individual,  during  the  week  last  past.  From  this,  it  ap- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


249 


pears  that  this  person  was  one  party  to  sales  amounting  in  the 
aggregate  to  $33,000.  This  is  simply  the  operations  of  one 
man,  in  one  week,  and  the  property  that  changed  hands  is  all 
within  the  city  limits.  Others,  no  doubt,  have  done  as  much, 
and  perhaps  more,  of  which  we  have  no  account.  There  has 
been  no  time  when  the  business  prospects  of  our  place  were 
brighter  than  at  present.  Strangers  are  flocking  into  the  city 
in  large  numbers;  all  delighted  with  the  place,  and  taking  up 
their  residence  among  us.  In  addition  to  an  active  business  in 
sales  of  lots  and  lands,  the  building  of  stores,  shops  and  dwel¬ 
lings  is  unusually  active  this  spring.  New  buildings  are  being 
erected  in  every  direction,  and  some  of  them  of  a  superior 
order.  It  is  truly  gratifying  to  witness  such  indisputable  evi¬ 
dences  of  prosperity.  Long  may  it  continue.” 

Mr.  D.  Y.  Kilgore,  Superintendent  of  the  village  schools,  in 
his  report  for  the  year  1855,  says,  the.  whole  number  that  have 
attended  school  during  the  year  is  750;  that  the  whole  number 
of  children,  by  the  last  census,  is  1,600;  that  the  only  build¬ 
ing  owned  by  the  village  for  educational  purposes  is  a  small 
brick  school  house  —  fast  becoming  obsolete  and  incapable  of 
accommodating  one-thirtieth  part  of  those  entitled  to  public 
.school  instruction,  and  attributes  the  fact  that  so  large  a  pro¬ 
portion  of  pupils  attend  no  school  whatever,  to  the  shameful 
lack  of  school  accommodations  and  strongly  urges  on  the  Board 
of  Education  and  the  village  authorities  the  necessity  of  four 
ward  schools  and  one  High  School. 

R.  S.  Bacon,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  during  the  year,  made  a 
purchase  of  the  lot  on  the  corner  of  Mifflin  and  Pinckne3r  streets, 
for  a  Commercial  and  Business  College,  and  Simeon-  Mills 
built  a  block  of  four  stories  adjoining  those  previously  built  by 
Mills  &  Catlin  on  King  street.  They  were  of  stone,  uniform 
with  the  other. 

S.  R.  Fox  made  a  purchase  of  the  grounds  on  the  corner  of 
Main  and  Carroll  streets,  for  a  block  of  stone  buildings,  to  be 
erected  the  succeeding  year.  Willet  S.  Main  put  up  his  stone 
block,  corner  of  Mifflin  and  Carroll  streets;  Leonard  Nolden, 
a  similar  building  on  State  street,  on  the  block  west  toward 

17 


250 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


the  University,  to  be  occupied  as  a  hotel;  and  the  elegant  resi¬ 
dences  of  J.  E.  Kendall,  corner  of  Langdon  and  Pinckney 
streets,  and  W.  B.  Jarvis’  octagon  house  on  Wilson  street r 
were  erected;  and  among  others,  were  the  residences  of  N.  B. 
Van  Slyke,  Mr.  Ashmead,  I.  N.  De  Forest,  H.  H.  Hayes,  A. 
Botkin  and  H.  B.  Staines.  Much  attention  was  bestowed  this 
season  upon  sidewalks,  many  miles  of  which  were  laid  in  differ¬ 
ent  parts  of  the  village. 

The  Board  of  Education  established  three  grades  of  schools:, 
the  High  School,  the  Intermediate  and  the  Primary,  under  the 
immediate  supervision  of  a  Superintendent,  and  the  general 
supervision  of  the  Board,  and  the  system  has  continued  with¬ 
out  material  change  to  the  present  time.  By  the  act  of  incor¬ 
poration,  the  Board  was  authorized  to  borrow  $10,000  on  the- 
credit  of  the  village,  and  the  Board  of  Trustees  authorized  to- 
issue  bonds  for  the  amount,  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  Union 
school  houses.  But  the  Board  of  Education  were  unable  to* 
induce  the  Board  of  Trustees  to  issue  the  bonds,  the  latter  be¬ 
ing  of  the  opinion  that  $10,000  was  a  larger  debt  than  the  vil¬ 
lage  ought  to  incur  at  one  time,  and  nothing  was  done  in  the 
way  of  building  that  year. 

In  the  summer  of  this  year,  the  Congregational  church  in¬ 
vited  Rev.  N.  H.  Eggleston  of  Plymouth  church,  Chicago,, 
to  become  pastor,  and  its  call  was  accepted.  The  spirit¬ 
ual  and  material  prosperity  of  the  church  rapidly  increased, 
and  within  a  year,  nearly  fifty  were  added  to  its  membership. 
The  church  room  becoming  too  narrow  for  the  needs  of  the 
congregation,  in  1856,  they  moved  first  into  the  large  hall  of 
Bacon’s  Commercial  College,  which  was  then  ready  for  occu¬ 
pancy,  and  then  built  a  brick  chapel  which  they  occupied  until 
1873-4.  This  chapel  is  situated  on  the  east  side  of  Washington 
avenue,  on  lots  5  and  6,  block  66,  with  accommodations  for 
about  500  persons.  It  was  built  at  the  expense  of  $4,400,  with 
the  hope  of  soon  adding  to  it  a  church  building.  In  May,  1858, 
Mr.  Eggleston  retired  from  the  pastorate  and  soon  after  re¬ 
turned  east,  where  he  has  been  for  a  number  of  years  pastor  of 
the  church  in  Stockbridge,  Mass.,  so  long  honored  by  the  min- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


251 


istration  of  Jonathan  Edwards.  He  has  since  then  been 
connected  with  the  faculty  of  Williams  College,  in  the  chair  of 
rhetoric. 

The  usual  anniversary  services  of  the  4th  of  July  were  this 
year  changed.  Under  the  direction  of  Charles  G.  Mayers, 
Esq.,  a  regatta  was  held  on  Lake  Monona,  open  to  sail  boats 
and  row  boats.  It  is  supposed  some  three  thousand  persons, 
were  present.  This  was  the  first  regatta  held  on  the  lake.  Horn 
L.  J.  Farwell,  Alex.  T.  Gray,  G.  P.  Delaplaine,  Dr.  Otis 
Hoyt  and  Hon.  A.  McArthur,  judges.  The  whole  went  off 
very  satisfactorily,  and  was  a  decided  success. 

The  members  of  Grace  Church  (Episcopal)  held  a  meeting 
on  the  6th  of  August,  Rev.  J.  B.  Brittan  presiding,  and  J.  G. 
Knapp,  secretary,  at  which  time  a  committee  was  appointed,, 
consisting  of  Hon.  L.  J.  Farwell,  William  A.  Mears  and  H, 
K.  Lawrence,  to  solicit  subscriptions  for  the  erection  of  a» 
church  edifice. 

The  real  property  of  the  village  was  assessed  this  year  at; 
$284,700;  personal,  $39,300.  The  corporation  receipts  were 
$5,836.09.  Liabilities  unpaid,  $963.56. 

The  census  of  the  village,  as  reported  January  26,  1855, 
showed  3,781  males,  3,082  females*  total,  6,863. 

The  amount  of  tonnage  received  at  the  Madison  depot,  over 
the  Milwaukee  and  Mississippi  Railroad,  and  forwarded  front 
there,  as  shown  in  the  tabular  statement  published,  exhibits 
the  amount  of  business  greater,  perhaps,  than  any  other  town, 
in  Wisconsin,  in  proportion  to  its  size.  The  whole  amount  of 
merchandise  transported  over  the  road  westward,  was  27,580,318? 
lbs;  the  amount  received  here  was  12,596,023,  almost  one-half 
of  all  shipped  over  the  road.  The  whole  number  of  bushels  of 
wheat  shipped  eastward  was  1,931,407,  and  from  this  place, 
604,624,  almost  one-third  of  the  whole. 

On  the  2d  of  February,  1856,  the  Board  of  Trustees  of 
the  village  appointed  a  committee,  consisting  of  A.  A.  Bird, 
Simeon  Mills,  Dr.  Thos.  O.  Edwards  and  J.  P.  Atwood,  to 
draw  up  a  city  charter,  and  to  procure  its  passage  before  tho 
legislature  then  in  session.  The  bill  was  drawn,  and  Madi- 


252 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


son  became  a  City  by  an  act  approved  Marcli  4.  On  the  11th 
of  March,  the  first  city  election  was  held.  Jairus  C.  Fair- 
child*  being  an  Independent,  and  Julius  P.  Atwood  the 
Democratic  candidate  for  Mayor;  the  former  received  711  votes, 
and  the  latter  506,  electing  Col.  Fairchild  by  a  majority  of 
205.  Abraham  B.  Braley  received  784  votes  for  Police  Jus¬ 
tice,  against  419  cast  for  Wm.  Welch;  Johnson  J.  Starks, 
632  votes  for  Treasurer,  against  370  for  Alfred  Main;  Fred 
Mohr,  503  votes  for  Marshal,  against  383  for  Stephen  Gr.  Ben¬ 
edict. 

The  following  Aldermen  were  elected: 

First  Ward — Adam  Kiuetz,  Thos.  Herran  and  A.  E.  Brooks. 

Second  Ward — N.  B.  Van  Slyke,  D.  J.  Powers  and  John 
N.  Jones. 

Third  Ward — C.  G.  Mayers,  P.  H.  Van  Bergen  and  A.  S. 
Wood. 

Fourth  Ward — S.  M.  Van  Bergen,  Jos.  Bobbins  and  Tim. 
Kinney. 

D.  H.  Weight,  Dr.  J.  W.  Hunt,  H.  N.  Foster  and  D.  C. 
Bush,  Justices  of  the  Peace,  and  W.  N.  Seymour  elected  Clerk 
by  the  City  Council. 

*Col.  Jairus  C.  Fairchild,  was  born  at  Granville,  Washington  county, 
N.  Y.,  December  27,  1801.  He  removed  to  Ohio  in  1822,  settling  first  at 
Hudson,  then  at  Franklin  Mills,  Portage  county,  in  1826,  where  he  was 
engaged  in  business  as  tanner  and  currier,  having  for  a  partner  the 
celebrated  “  Capt.  John  Brown.  He  removed  to  Cleveland  in  1834,  and 
was  engaged  in  merchandise,  and  was  Secretary  of  the  Cleveland  and 
Newburgh  Railroad  Company.  He  removed  to  Wisconsin,  with  his  family, 
in  June,  1846,  and  at  the  organization  of  the  State  Government  was 
elected  State  Treasurer,  which  office  he  held  from  August,  1848,  to  De¬ 
cember  31,  1851. 

Col.  F.  was  prominently  identified  with  the  business  enterprises  of  Mad¬ 
ison,  and  died  here  July  18,  1862,  aged  about  61  years.  He  left  four  chil¬ 
dren:  Lucius,  who  has  served  six  years  as  Governor  of  the  State,  and  was 
distinguished  for  his  services  in  the  late  rebellion ;  Cassius,  who  died  at  Mil¬ 
waukee  of  wounds  received  in  the  war;  Charles,  now  of  Boston,  connected 
with  the  Navy  Department  during  the  war,  and  a  daughter,  Mrs.  E.  B. 
Dean,  of  this  place.  Mrs.J.C.  Fairchild  died  at  Madison,  October  21, 1866, 
aged  65  years. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


253 


The  officers  of  Grace  Church  advertised,  February  8,  for  four 
hundred  cords  of  stone,  with  a  view  to  commence  the  erection 
of  their  church  edifice. 

The  Daily  Argus ,  of  April  28,  in  speaking  of  the  improve¬ 
ments  commenced  for  the  year,  says:  “We  notice  five  first- 
class  dwellings  going  up,  five  brick  dwellings,  forty  framed 
dwellings,  and  sixteen  stone  and  brick  buildings  for  stores,  in 
progress.”  The  evidence  of  thrift  and  enterprise  was  very  ap¬ 
parent.  The  number  of  new  comers  was  large  and  increasing, 
and  the  prospects  for  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  city 
were  never  so  promising.  The  State  Journal ,  of  June  3,  gives 
the  names  of  the  more  important  business  firms  and  institu¬ 
tions  in  the  city,  as  follows:  The  brick  block  built  by  W.  D. 
Brueh,  and  known  as  Brueh’s  Block,  occupied  by  the  Dane 
County  Bank,  and  J.  Richardsom  &  Co.,  on  the  corner,  as 
land  agents;  Hale  &  Harris,  dry  goods;  D.  S.  Durrie,  books 
and  stationery,  and  D.  Holt,  jeweler,  and  Wright  &  Mayers 
as  land  agents  and  agents  of  American  Express  Company,  all  on 
the  first  floor.  The  second  floor  by  Ortoh  &  Hopkihs,  At¬ 
wood  &  Haskell,  and  Hood&  Tehmey,  attorneys;  Drs.  Bowem 
&  Bartlett,  physicians;  Maul  &  Grimm,  book  binders;  State 
Agricultural  Society,  Powers  &  Skihher,  publishers,  and  State 
Journal  editorial  rooms.  The  third  story  by  the  Madison 
Mutual  Insurance  Company,  Madison  Gas  Light  Company,  S. 

V.  Shipmah,  architect;  the  City  Council  and  Clerk’s  office;  the 
Nor  she  Amerikan ,  Norwegian  newspaper;  N.  W.  Deah,  office; 

W.  H.  Wymax,  insurance  agent,  and  Western  Telegraph  Com¬ 
pany.  The  fourth  story,  the  State  Journal  printing  office; 
Museum  of  the  Wisconsin  Natural  History  Association,  and 
Mr.  Bronsoh,  artist.  The  basement  by  Hale  &  Harris,  as  an 
eating  saloon.  The  building  adjoining,  on  Pinckney  street,  by 
S.  Marshall,  as  the  State  Bank,  on  the  main  floor;  Delaplaihe 
&  Burdick  on  second  floor,  and  by  ex-Gov.  Farwell  as  a  real 
estate  office.  The  frame  building  next  east,  by  L.  Guild  &  Co., 
dry  goods;  similar  building  adjoining,  by  Colwell  &  Co.,  drug¬ 
gists;  next,  G.  W.  Gilmah,  boots  and  shoes,  the  second  floor  by 
Dr.  J.  C.  Howells,  dentist.  The  next  building  of  brick,  known 


254 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


as  the  Badger  Building,  first  floor,  Catlin,  Williamson  and 
Barwise,  land  office  and  exchange  dealers,  and  Smith  &  Keyes, 
as  attorneys.  The  upper  part  used  by  the  United  States 
Hotel,  which  adjoins  it  on  the  east.  The  basement  by  W.  H. 
Noland,  barber,  and  P.  L.  Mohr,  real  estate  dealer.  The 
United  States  Hotel,  kept  by  Gilbert  Dutcher.  In  Fair- 
child’s  block,  on  Main  street,  S.  Klauber  &  Co.,  dry  goods, 
occupied  two  stores  on  the  first  floor,  and  H.  B.  Merrill,  cloth¬ 
ing;  the  second  floor  as  the  St.  Julien  saloon;  the  third  floor 
by  Langrishe  &  Atavater,  as  a  theatre.  In  the  basement,  A. 
P.  Dcerschlag,  as  a  saloon.  The  adjoining  frame  buildings,  by 
Gleason  &  Memhard  on  the  first  floor,  dry  goods  and  hard¬ 
ware,  and  G.  E.  Woodward,  attorney;  the  next,  by  Isaac  Bon- 
nell,  stove  store,  and  A.  Neuhoff,  clothing;  adjoining,  by 
Donaldson  &  Tredway,  dry  goods,  and  second  floor  by  Abbot, 
Clark  and  Coit,  attorneys,  the  banking  house  of  M.  T.  Mar¬ 
tin;  B.  U.  Caswell’s  hat  store  and  French  as  a  saloon.  The 
next  brick  store,  owned  by  J.  C.  Fairchild,  occupied  by  D.  C. 
Poole,  dry  goods  and  crockery,  and  second  floor  by  Vilas, 
Roys  and  Pinney,  Drs.  Gray  and  Brown,  Col.  Fairchild’s 
office,  and  that  of  Wm.  Welch,  Justice  of  the  Peace.  The 
adjoining  building,  the  Capitol  House,  kept  by  Nelson  and 
Russell,  and  by  Cook  and  Belden,  jewelers,  and  M.  Strauss, 
as  tobacconist.  Across  Wisconsin  avenue,  the  next  business 
firm  is  R.  T.  Curtis  &  Co.  (T.  Reynolds),  dry  goods  and  gro¬ 
ceries,  in  the  brick  store  built  by  W.  C.  Wells  in  1851;  the 
next  by  W.  B.  Jarvis,  land  agent,  and  T.  S.  Woodward,  drugs 
and  medicines,  and  S.  R.  Fox,  hardware;  and  across  Carroll 
street,  Miss  McMahon,  milliner,  A.  Abbott,  marble  shop,  and 
Sanderson,  milliner,  Reuil  Noyes,  land  office.  The  adjoining 
building  across  Fairchild  street  being  the  County  Court  House. 

Among  other  buildings  erected  this  year,  was  P.  H.  Van 
Bergen’s  block,  corner  of  Clymer  and  Pinckney  streets;  R.  S. 
Bacon  &  Co.,  commercial  college  building;  Billings  &  Car¬ 
man’s  plow  manufactory;  city  engine  houses;  Fox  &  Atw'OOd’s 
elegant  stone  block,  occupied  by  S.  R.  Fox;  Mrs.  Trevoy  and 
A.  Rasdall,  stone  block  on  King  street;  James  Campbell, 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


255 


planing  mill  on  Washington  avenue  south  of  the  Capitol,  and 
several  tine  private  residences. 

The  Merchants’  Bank  of  Madison  was  this  year  organized 
under  the  general  banking  law.  Hon.  A.  A.  Bliss  of  Ohio, 
President,  and  C.  T.  Flowers,  Cashier.  It  commenced  busi¬ 
ness  in  Bruen’s  block,  July  2. 

There  was  no  celebration  on  the  4th  of  July.  An  excursion 
was  had  to  Mazomanie,  in  which  many  participated.  There 
was  also  a  regatta  on  Lake  Mendota. 

The  post  office  was  removed,  Jul}^  27,  to  their  new  rooms  in 
P.  H.  Van  Bergen’s  block.  The  office  is  twenty  feet  wide  by 
sixty-five  feet  deep  and  twelve  high.  Has  1,100  letter  boxes 
and  100  private  drawers.  The  usual  daily  mail  matter  received 
is  from  20  to  50  bushels,  and  during  the  sessions  of  the  legisla¬ 
ture,  one  to  three  hundred  bushels. 

The  “  Madison  St.  George’s  Society,”  was  organized  and  held 
their  first  meeting,  August  13.  The  officers  for  1856  were:  Dr. 
Jos.  Hobbins,  President;  W.  B.  Jarvis  and  R.  Shorrocks, 
Vice  Presidents;  H.  Wright,  Treasurer;  J.  W.  Mayhew, 
Recording  Secretary;  Wm.  Welch,  Corresponding  Secretary; 
Dr.  Wm.  Hobbins,  Physician. 

R.  S.  Bacon’s  commercial  college  was  opened  in  January, 
1856,  and  was  very  successful.  In  the  fall  of  1858,  it  was  pur¬ 
chased  by  D.  IT.  Tullis.  It  was  continued  without  interrup¬ 
tion  under  his  charge  until  1865,  when,  by  mutual  arrange¬ 
ment,  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  Worthington  &  Warner, 
by  whom  it  was  continued  in  Young’s  block,  on  Main  street, 
.and  more  recently  in  W.  J.  &  F.  Ellsworth’s  building  on 
Pinckney  street. 

The  Dane  county  peat  beds  were  discovered  this  year.  Mr. 
Hough,  County  Surveyor,  made  a  plat  of  the  peat  bog  lying 
on  the  lands  of  Cols.  W.  B.  and  Geo.  H.  Slaughter  and  Wm. 
Green,  lying  six  miles  west  of  Madison,  and  immediately  on 
the  Milwaukee  and  Mississippi  Railroad  There  are  three 
irregularly  shaped  beds  contiguous  to  each  other,  which  lie 
in  depressions  of  the  surface;  the  whole  outline  gives  unmis¬ 
takable  evidence  of  having  been,  at  a  remote  period,  covered 


256 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


with  water.  Mr.  Hough  estimates  that  the  one  hundred  and 
fifteen  acres  contain  nearly  350,000  solid  cords  of  peat.  Efforts 
have  been  made  to  manufacture  the  article  to  be  used  for  heat¬ 
ing  purposes,  but  for  some  some  reason  they  have  not  been  en¬ 
tirely  successful. 

In  1856,  the  village  having  become  a  city,  the  Common 
Council,  on  the  20th  of  August,  appropriated  $24,000  for  the 
erection  of  school  houses  in  the  four  wards  of  the  city.  Here 
the  matter  rested,  with  some  trifling  progress  in  the  selection 
of  sites,  until  after  the  council  had  raised  from  the  sale  of  city 
bonds,  and  had  at  its  disposal  a  large  amount  of  money.  The 
sites  for  school  houses  having  been  selected  or  assented  to,  and 
paid  for  by  the  Common  Council  out  of  the  money  set  apart 
for  that  purpose,  at  a  cost  of  $6,887.50,  the  Board  of  Education 
immediately  thereafter  advertised  for  proposals  for  the  erection 
of  the  four  school  houses,  to  be  built  of  stone,  forty  by  fifty 
feet  on  the  ground,  and  two  stories  high.  When,  however,  the 
proposals  were  received,  the  season  for  building  had  so  far 
passed,  that  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  construct  but  two 
houses  during  the  season  (1856),  leaving  the  remaining  two 
to  be  erected  the  following  spring.  Accordingly,  contracts 
were  entered  into  for  the  erection  of  school  houses  in  the  First 
and  Third  Wards,  to  be  completed  by  January  1,  1857.  After 
the  work  had  so  far  advanced  that  it  became  necessary  to- 
make  payments  to  the  contractors,  the  Common  Council  were 
applied  to  for  money  for  that  purpose,  but  refused  for  some 
reason  never  made  known  to  the  Board.  In  consequence  of  this 
action  of  the  Council,  the  Board  of  Education  were  deprived 
of  the  means  of  continuing  the  work,  or  meeting  the  engage¬ 
ments  they  had  entered  into,  and  the  contractors  brought  suits 
to  recover  pay  for  work  performed  and  for  damages  for  non¬ 
performance  on  the  part  of  the  Board. 

From  the  report  of  the  Superintendent,  we  learn  that  the- 
whole  number  of  scholars  attending  school  during  the  year,  is 
694;  less  by  56  than  the  number  reported  last  year.  The  cen¬ 
tral  or  High  School  was  kept  in  the  old  Congregational  church, 
and  has  133  pupils,  of  which  number  67,  are  in  the  higher  Eng- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


257 


lish  and  classical  departments.  Eight  teachers  had  been  en¬ 
gaged. 

The  annual  election  of  city  officers  for  1857,  took  place  in 
April.  For  Mayor,  A.  A.  Bird  received  763  votes,  and  F.  G^ 
Tibbitts,  672  —  the  former  was  elected.  Fred.  Sauthoff  was 
elected  Treasurer,  receiving  735  votes,  and  C.  H.  Billings  683. 
The  Aldermen  elected  were:  Thos.  Heeran  and  C.  Zwicky, 
1st  ward;  David  J.  Powers  and  J.  T.  Clark,  2d  ward;  J.  C. 
Griffin  and  David  Hyer,  3d  ward;  and  Dr.  Jos.  Hobbins  and 
T.  Kinney,  4th  ward. 

The  First  and  Third  ward  school  houses  were  completed  and 
occupied  this  year.  They  are  fine  two  story  stone  buildings, 
built  after  the  same  plan,  and  costing  the  sum  total  of  $9,500, 
exclusive  of  furnishing.  In  each  building,  the  second  story 
has  one  large  study  room,  capable  of  seating  one  hundred 
pupils,  with  a  recitation  room  adjacent  to  and  leading  out  of 
the  main  room.  The  lower  story  is  divided  into  two  rooms 
communicating  vtith  each  other,  used  for  primary  and  inter¬ 
mediate  departments.  The}^  are  each  capable  of  seating  sixty- 
five  pupils. 

The  City  Superintendent,  Mr.  D.  Y.  Kilgore,  in  his  report 
says:  “  At  this  time,  1857,  there  are  eleven  separate  schools,  in 
which  are  employed  fifteen  teachers.  The  whole  amount 
expended  for  rent  of  school  houses,  repairs,  fuel,  incidental 
expenses  and  teachers’  wages,  is  less  than  $6,000;  and  that, 
according  to  the  school  census,  1,865  children  between  the 
ages  of  four  and  twenty,  reside  within  the  city  limits.” 

On  the  4th  of  July,  the  Germans  had  an  extempore  celebra¬ 
tion.  Aug.  Kreur,  Orator.  The  firemen  had  also  a  celebra¬ 
tion;  the  Declaration  of  Independence  read  by  Prof.  E.  S. 
Carr,  and  addresses  by  Myron  H.  Orton,  Chauncey  Abbot, 
J.  W.  Johnson  and  S.  D.  Carpenter.  A  circus  performance, 
with  caliope  music,  was  a  feature  in  the  celebration. 

The  Wisconsin  Bank  of  Madison  was  organized  during  the 
year.  M.  D.  Miller,  President,  and  Noah  Lee,  Cashier. 

N.  B.  Van  Slyke  and  A.  A.  McDonnell  erected  their  beau¬ 
tiful  residences  near  Lake  Mendota,  during  the  season;  and  the 


258 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


American  Hotel  was  enlarged  by  an  addition,  seventy  by  thirty 
feet,  three  stories.  Bradford  Williams,  proprietor. 

The  City  Hall  building  was  in  process  of  erection  in  1857. 
The  size  of  the  same  is  fifty  by  one  hundred  feet,  three  stories 
]iigh,  with  a  front  on  Mifflin  and  Wisconsin  avenue.  Dok- 
3IELL  &  Kutzbock,  architects.  The  first  story,  above  the  base¬ 
ment,  designed  for  stores;  the  second  floor  for  the  use  of  the 
.city  council  and  city  officers,  and  the  third  floor,  in  one  large 
joom,  for  public  meetings,  concerts,  etc. 

The  chapel  of  the  Congregational  Church,  on  Washington 
.avenue,  was  commenced  in  September.  The  building  is  forty- 
three  by  seventy-two  feet.  Jas.  Jack  &  Co.,  carpenters,  and 
J.  W.  Harvey,  masons. 

The  German  Catholic  Church  on  Johnson  street,  between 
Carroll  and  Henry  streets,  and  the  German  Evangelical  Luth¬ 
eran,  on  Main  street,  between  Broome  and  Bassett  streets, 
were  also  erected  this  year. 

An  act  was  passed  by  the  legislature,  approved  February  28, 
1857,  enabling  the  Board  of  Regents  of  the  State  University, 
to  borrow  $40,000  from  the  principal  of  the  University  Fund, 
for  the  construction  of  the  main  edifice  of  the  University,  to 
.contain  all  the  public  rooms  required  in  an  institution  of  learning 
of  the  first  class.  After  much  consultation,  the  board  adopted 
a  plan  for  the  edifice,  of  the  Roman  Doric  style  of  architecture, 
combining  beauty  of  outline  with  convenience  of  internal 
arrangement.  The  drawings  were  furnished  by  William 
Tiksley,  Esq.,  of  Indianapolis,  an  architect  of  experience  and 
reputation.  The  edifice  to  contain  a  chapel,  a  lecture  room  for 
each  department  with  study  annexed  for  the  use  of  the  Pro¬ 
fessor;  apartments  for  library,  apparatus,  cabinet,  and  for  col¬ 
lections  in  natural  science  and  in  art. 

The  plan  was  accepted,  and  the  contract  for  the  building 
awarded  to  James  Campbell  for  the  entire  work  complete  at 
#36,550,  he  being  the  lowest  bidder.  The  stone  work  of  the 
basement  story  was  in  an  advanced  state  of  forwardness  in  the 
fall  of  1857,  and  it  was  expected  that  it  would  be  completed 
.before  winter,  so  as  to  enable  the  building  committee  to  com- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


259 


plete  the  entire  structure  before  the  first  day  of  November,  1858. 

The  committee  in  their  report  say:  “The  exterior  plan  of 
the  building  is  a  model  of  architecture,  imposing  and  massive; 
and  the  internal  arrangements  are  such  as  to  most  fully  meet 
the  wants  and  necessities  of  the  institution  in  all  its  several 
departments.” 

The  ground  was  broken  for  the  construction  of  the  building 
on  the  first  of  June,  1857.  The  following  is  a  brief  account  of 
its  arrangement:  It  stands  on  the  highest  point  of  ground  in  the 
University  Park,  one  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  lake, 
and  the  water  table  of  the  structure  will  be  more  elevated  than 
the  dome  of  the  present  (the  old)  Capitol.  The  general  design 
of  the  building  is  a  parallelogram,  one  hundred  and  forty  by 
seventy  feet,  and  about  sixty  feet  to  the  cornice;  to  be  sur¬ 
mounted  by  a  dome  whose  extreme  height  will  be  nearly  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet.  It  is  not,  however,  a  building  of  plain 
surface,  like  those  now  erected,  but  is  broken  by  angles  and 
projections,  securing  additional  convenience  and  higher  archi¬ 
tectural  effect  —  giving  adequate  space  for  its  cabinet  collec¬ 
tions,  laboratory,  scientific  apparatus,  libraries,  reading  rooms, 
society  rooms,  etc. 

The  old  log  house  on  Butler  street  —  the  first  dwelling 
erected  in  Madison  —  built  in  the  spring  of  1837,  and  occupied 
by  Ebek  Peck,  the  pioneer  settler,  as  a  hotel,  was  torn  down 
to  make  way  for  some  handsomer  if  not  better  structure,  in  the 
month  of  May.  It  was  old,  decayed,  and  must  have  tumbled 
in  at  no  distant  day,  had  the  work  of  destruction  not  been 
hastened. 

Very  soon  after  the  organization  of  the  State  government, 
the  Capitol  building  became  inadequate  to  the  proper  accom¬ 
modation  of  the  several  departments,  which  had  been  brought 
into  being,  and  the  business  of  which  rapidly  increased  with 
the  growth  of  the  State.  Still,  by  renting  rooms  in  other 
buildings,  it  was  made  to  answer  the  purpose  for  ten  years 
after  Wisconsin  was  admitted  into  union. 

It  had  now  become  apparent  that  a  new  capitol  must 
be  built  without  further  delay,  and  the  necessity  gave  rise 


2,60 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


to  a  proposition,  in  the  legislature  of  that  ^ear,  to  remove 
the  seat  of  government  from  Madison  to  some  other  points 
Whether  there  was  any  real  danger  of  the  success  of  the 
proposition  or  not,  the  people  of  Madison  became  alarmed  and 
voted  to  donate  to  the  State  $50,000  in  city  bonds  to  aid  in  the 
construction  of  a  new  capitol  upon  the  old  site.  This  propo¬ 
sition  was  accepted  by  the  legislature,  and  on  the  third  of 
March,  an  act  was  passed  authorizing  the  enlargement  of  the 
State  Capitol.  By  this  act,  the  Commissioners  of  School  and 
University  Lands,  were  directed  to  sell  the  ten  sections  of  land 
appropriated  by  Congress  u  for  the  completion  of  the  public 
buildings,”  and  apply  the  proceeds  towards  enlarging  and 
improving  the  State  Capitol.  The  State  also  appropriated 
$30,000  for  the  same  object.  The  Governor  and  Secretary 
of  State  were  made  commissioners  for  conducting  the  worlw 
The  plans  of  Messrs.  Donnell  &  Kutzbock,  then  architects 
living  at  Madison,  were  adopted,  and  the  east  wing  was  put 
under  contract,  and  John  Ryecraft  of  Milwaukee,  received 
the  award,  being  the  lowest  bidder,  at  $92,000.  Mr.  Ryecraft 
subsequently  gave  up  the  contract  and  it  was  awarded  to  A.  A, 
McDonnell.  The  work  was  completed  and  occupied  by  the 
Assembly  in  1859.  The  following  is  a  brief  account  of  the 
building:  The  basement  is  divided  into  two  rooms,  twenty- 
three  by  thirty-five  feet,  and  two,  twenty-six  by  forty-five  feet. 
In  the  first  stor}^  the  same  —  all  these  being  fire  proof,  or 
covered  with  fire  proof  arches,  the  latter  to  be  the  governor’s 
and  his  secretary’s,  and  the  secretary  of  state’s  appartments. 
In  the  upper  story  an  assembly  chamber,*  sixty-five  by  sixty- 
seven  feet;  one  room  for  the  speaker  of  the  house,  a  clerk’s 
room,  a  postoffice,  and  a  cloak  and  hat  room;  and  the  ladiesT 
and  gentlemen’s  galleries,  two  separate  galleries  leading  to  the 
latter.  In  front  of  this  projection,  a  massive  stone  platform 
ten  feet  wide.  The  roof  above  it  being  supported  by  ten 
columns  fiftyr  feet  high  and  about  four  and  a  half  feet  thick. 

*  This  chamber  was  used  by  the  Assembly  in  1859,  anc*  on  the  completion; 
of  the  west  wing,  that  body  removed  to  it,  leaving  the  east  room  for  the 
use  of  the  Senate. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


261 


By  an  act  of  the  legislature,  approved  March  6,  1857,  the 
State  Hospital  for  the  Insane  was  established,  and  L.  J.  Far- 
well,  John  P.  McGregor  and  Levi  Sterling  were  appointed 
by  the  Governor  as  commissioners.  The  commissioners,  at 
their  first  meeting,  on  the  5th  of  May,  elected  L.  J.  Farwell, 
President;  J.  P.  McGregor,  Secretary;  and  Levi  Sterling, 
Building  Superintendent,  and  employed  S.  V.  Shipman  as 
architect.  After  the  adoption  of  plans,  specifications  and 
detail  drawings,  notice  was  published  in  every  city  in  the  State, 
that  proposals  would  be  received  until  September  1st,  A.  D. 
1857,  for  doing  all  the  work  and  furnishing  all  the  materials  in 
accordance  with  the  plan  and  specifications. 

On  the  first  of  September,  the  bids  were  opened  and  the 
contract  awarded  to  Nelson  McNiel  of  Portage  City,  for 
building  the  central  or  main  building,  one  longitudinal  and 
one  traverse  wing  for  the  sum  of  $78,500. 

Mr.  McNiel,  after  making  some  progress  on  the  work, 
finally  failed  entirely,  and  threw  up  his  contract,  which  caused 
much  delay  in  the  completion  of  the  building;  and  it  was  not 
until  some  time  in  1860,  that  it  was  turned  over  to  the  Board 
of  Trustees  for  the  reception  of  patients. 

The  following  is  a  synopsis  of  the  plan  of  the  buildings,  as 
drawn  by  the  architect,  Col.  S.  V.  Shipman:  The  structure  to 
consist  of  the  centre  or  main  building,  with  two  longitudinal 
and  two  traverse  wings  —  the  main  building  to  be  sixty-five  by 
one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  feet;  the  longitudinal,  each  forty- 
one  by  ninety-two  feet,  and  the  traverse  wings  forty  by  eighty- 
six  feet;  the  main  building  and  traverse  buildings  are  to  be 
four  stories  high  —  cellar  eight  feet,  first  story  twelve  feet. 
The  second,  of  the  main  building,  fifteen  feet;  the  third  story, 
thirteen  feet;  and  the  fourth  stor}^  eleven  feet.  The  first, 
second  and  third  stories  of  the  wing,  will  be  twelve  feet  each  — 
the  walls  of  the  fourth,  or  attic  story,  will  be  ten  feet.  The 
main  building  and  each  of  the  traverse  wings  are  to  be  sur¬ 
mounted  by  a  cupola;  that  of  the  main  building  being  fifty 
feet,  and  of  each  wing,  twenty-seven  feet  above  the  roof. 

Capitol  Hook  and  Ladder  Company,  No.  1,  was  organized 


262 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


in  October.  Officers:  Wm.  Wallace,  Foreman;  Geo.  B.  Mc- 
Gie,  Assistant  Foreman;  J.  H.  McAvoy,  Treasurer;  Manning 
Teedway,  Secretary.  It  has  sixty  members. 

Mendota  Fire  Engine  Company,  No.  1,  was  organized  July, 
1857,  and  has  over  fifty  members.  Officers:  W.  Babcock, 
Foreman;  Chas.  Billings  and  Thos.  Thomas,  Assistants;  J.  C. 
Rudd,  Treasurer,  Wm.  H.  Holt,  Secretary;  C.  C.  Mears,, 
Steward. 

Madison  Engine  Company,  No.  2,  was  organized  soon  after. 
Officers:  Geo.  Memhaed,  Captain;  J.  Wisler  and  F.  Dingle- 
man,  Assistants;  Rich’d  Baus,  Secretary;  Fred.  Sauthoef, 
Treasurer;  and  M.  Henrichs,  Steward.  The  company  consists 
of  sixty-one  members. 

The  year  1857,  will  be  remembered  by  many  as  a  disastrous 
one,  in  a  financial  point  of  view.  Early  in  the  fall,  what  is 
known  as  a  u  monetary  panic,”  came  over  the  country,  and 
the  western  states  felt  it  severely  —  Wisconsin  as  a  state,  as 
Madison  as  a  city.  A  number  of  merchants  were  obliged  to 
yield  to  the  pressure  and  scarcity  of  money,  and  close  up  their 
places  of  business.  The  private  improvements  of  the  city  were 
much  affected. 

During  the  sessions  of  the  Legislature  of  1858,  an  effort 
was  made  to  remove  the  capital  to  the  city  of  Milwaukee.  A  bill 
was  introduced  into  the  Assembly,  and  on  its  being  read  a  third 
time,  there  was  a  tie  vote.  Hon.  J.  H.  Knowlton,  who  had 
opposed  the  bill,  changed  his  vote  for  the  removal,  which  car¬ 
ried  the  bill.  He  then  moved  to  reconsider  the  vote  and  to  lay 
that  motion  upon  the  table,  which  was  adopted,  thus  virtually 
killing  the  bill  for  the  session. 

At  the  city  election  held  March  1,  Hon.  Geo.  B.  Smith  re¬ 
ceived  978  votes  and  Neely  Gray  600  votes  —  the  former  was 
elected,  and  also  the  following  aldermen:  Albert  Sherwin  and 
Simon  Seckels,  First  ward;  Eri  S.  Oakley  and  James  Jackt 
Second  ward;  Darwin  Clark  and  C.  Henrichs,  Third  ward; 
and  Cassius  Fairchild  and  P.  L.  Dowling,  Fourth  ward;  D. 
H.  Wright,  J.  W.  Hunt,  H.  L.  Foster  and  P.  D.  Barry^,  Ward 
Justices;  J.  K.  Proudfit,  Treasurer,  and  A.  B.  Bealey,  Police 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


■  263 


Justice.  The  City  Council  elected  Henry  Wright,  Clerk; 

K.  Edgerton,  Assessor;  S.  Mills,  Street  Commissioner. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  the  usual  anniversary  exercises  were  held, 
Hon.  E.  Brigham,  President;  the  Vice  Presidents  selected  from 
various  towns;  Wi.  R.  Smith,  Reader;  Hon.  H.  S.  Orton,  Ora^* 
tor;  Rev.  N.  H.  Eggleston,  Chaplain,  and  W.  T.  Leitch,  Mar¬ 
shal. 

On  the  22d  of  February,  the  City  Hall  was  opened  for  the' 
first  time  in  the  evening,  and  illuminated  by  gas.  The  Hall 
is  a  spacious  room,  fifty  feet  wide  by  one  hundred  feet  deep, 
and  twenty-four  feet  from  the  floor  to  the  ceiling.  Exclusive 
of  the  gallery  and  rostrum,  it  is  forty-six  feet  by  seventy-eight; 
feet;  lighted  with  fourteen  large  windows,  containing  over  four 
hundred  lights  of  glass,  and  in  the  evening,  by  one  hundred 
and  fifty  gas  burners,  extending  around  the  room  just  below 
the  cornice,  and  two  large  chandeliers  and  a  number  of  smaller 
ones.  The  whole  number  of  burners  in  the  entire  edifice  is 
three  hundred  and  fifty. 

On  the  18th  of  February,  a  meeting  was  held  to  organize 
the  “Governor's  Guards,”  and  the  following  persons  were 
elected:  Julius  P.  Atwood,  Captain;  F.  D.  Fuller,  1st  Lieut.; 
Chas.  L.  Harris  2d,  and  S.  H.  Donnell  3d;  Geo.  E.  Bryant^ 
1st  Sergeant,  H.  Conley  2d,  H.  Meredith  3d,  and  Georgia 
Bacon  4th;  V.  W.  Roth,  1st  Corporal,  E.  T.  Sprague  2d,  E.^ 
B.  Crawford  3d,  Ira  W.  Bird  4th,  and  J.  K.  Proudfit,  Bn- 
sign ;  J.  P.  Atwood,  President,  with  E.  W.  Keyes  and  C.  T. 
Wakeley,  Directors;  W.  S.  Main,  Treasurer,  and  J.  K.  Proud-- 
fit,  Secretary.  A  number  of  changes  were  made  in  the  officers 
during  the  year. 

On  the  25th  of  February,  another  military  company  was  or-* 
ganized,  called  the  “  Madison  Guards,”  composed  mainly  of 
Irish  citizens.  The  officers  first  elected  were:  John  Willans^ 
Captain;  Thos.  Heeran,  Matthew  Smith,  Lieutenants,  and 
J.  R.  Hyland,  Sergeant. 

On  the  12th  of  July,  a  meeting  was  held  at  the  Court  House,, 
to  organize  a  cavalry  company,  at  which  meeting  A.  Bishof 
was  Chairman,  and  D.  S.  Curtis,  Secretary,  to  be  known  as- 


.264  . 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


tlie  “Dane  County  Dragoons;”  the  name  was  subsequently 
changed  to  “  Dane  Cavalry.”  The  following  were  the  first  elec¬ 
tive  officers:  H.  S.  Orton,  Captain;  H.  C.  Bull,  A.  A.  McDon¬ 
nell  and  W.  D.  Bird,  Lieutenants;  S.  H.  Carman,  J.  E.  Mann, 
J.  W.  Hunt  and  Timothy  Brown,  Sergeants;  A.  Bishop,  W. 
Veoman,  J.  Rodermund  and  B.  F.  Nott,  Corporals;  A.  Bishop, 
Adjutant,  J.  C.  Squires,  Commissary;  N.  W.  Dean,  Quarter¬ 
master;  J.  Alden  Ellis,  Paymaster;  J.  W.  Hunt,  Surgeon. 
At  a  subsequent  meeting,  held  September  18,  a  number  of 
changes  were  made  in  the  officers. 

Rev.  N.  H.  Eggleston,  who  had  been  invited  to  be  pastor  of 
the  Congregational  church  in  1855,  resigned  on  the  8th  of  May 
1858,  and  in  November  of  this  year,  Rev.  Jas.  Caldwell  was 
called  to  supply  the  pulpit;  but  after  remaining  nearly  a  year, 
he  returned  to  Illinois,  when  the  pulpit  was.  supplied  by  Prof. 
,J.  D.  Butler,  of  the  State  University. 

From  the  report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Schools,  it  appears 
that  there  were  934  persons  between  the  ages  of  four  and 
twent}",  and  the  average  number  attending  school  during  the 
year,  524,  divided  into  eleven  schools. 

The  German  Lutheran  church  this  year  erected  a  frame 
building  for  their  house  of  worship,  on  block  44,  on  Main 
street,  toward  the  depot  of  the  Milwaukee  Railroad.  In  1868, 
as  will  hereafter  appear,  the  society  erected  their  new  building 
.on  Washington  avenue. 

In  the  month  of  February,  1859,  Hasbrouck  &  Gur¬ 
nee  commenced  the  erection  of  a  three  story  stone  building  on 
Wisconsin  Avenue,  near  Main  street.  The  building  was 
twenty-five  by  fifty  feet,  and  was  occupied  by  the  proprietors 
as  a  land  office  and  banking  house,  the  third  story  was  occupied 
by  S.  V.  Shipman,  architect.  The  building  cost  about  $5,500. 
jMr.  Samuel  R.  Fox  built  an  elegant  stone  dwelling  house  on 
the  corner  of  Gilman  and  Carroll  streets;  it  was  subsequently 
sold  to  and  is  now  the  residence  of  N.  B.  Van  Slyke,  Esq. 
During  the  year,  Julius  T.  Clark  built  a  large  brick  dwelling 
liouse,  on  his  grounds  on  block  No.  94.  The  premises  were 
subsequently  sold  to  John  N.  Jones,  Esq.,  who  makes  it  his 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


265 


residence.  The  grounds  are  regarded  as  the  most  beautiful  in 
the  city.  J.  H.  Carpenter,  Esq.,  erected  a  brick  dwelling  on 
Wisconsin  avenue,  west  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

On  the  8th  of  January,  a  meeting  was  called  of  all  persons 
favorable  to  the  formation  of  a  religious  society  under  the 
charge  of  Rev.  N.  H.  Eggleston-,  to  meet  at  Porter’s  Hall,  to 
adopt  such  measures  as  were  necessary  for  a  permanent  and 
successful  organization.  The  call  was  signed  by  Darwin1 
Clark,  J.  B.  Bowen-,  D.  Atwood,  S.  D.  Hastings,  A.  Sher- 
WIN-,  GeO.  C APRON-,  D.  J.  POWERS,  0.  COLE,  JAS.  MORRISON,  E. 
W.  Skinner  and  H.  M.  Lewis.  Mr.  Egglestont  was  engaged, 
and  commenced  his  labors  January  15,  at  the  Baptist  church. 
On  the  12th  of  July,  the  church  was  formally  organized  under 
fhe  name  of  the  “Union  Congregational  Church  and  Society 
of  Madison,”  and  a  Council  of  Recognition,  composed  of  min¬ 
isters  and  delegates  from  other  Congregational  churches,  was 
invited  to  meet  on  the  14th,  at  which  time  Rev.  Dr.  Smith,  of 
Lane  Seminary,  was  invited  to  preach  in  the  morning,  and  in 
the  evening  the  installation  services  were  held  —  the  sermon 
being  preached  by  Prof.  Fisk,  of  Illinois. 

The  city  election,  this  year,  was  held  March  7,  Frank  A. 
Haskell  and  Geo.  B.  Smith  being  the  candidates  for  the  office 
of  Mayor.  The  former  received  397  votes,  and  the  latter  961, 
and  was  elected.  For  City  Treasurer,  F.  W.  Lindhorst  re¬ 
ceived  532  votes,  and  Andrew  Sexton,  803;  the  latter  was 
elected,  and  also  the  following  aldermen:  First  Ward,  J.  Zeph- 
enning  and  Wm.  Dudley;  Second  Ward,  Jos.  Baier  and  Wm. 
Hawley;  Third  Ward,  F.  C.  Festner  and  Ezra  Squires; 
Fourth  Ward,  J.  A.  Byrne  and  Jos.  Hobbins. 

The  assessed  valuation  of  property  was,  real  estate,  $2,027,- 
466,  and  personal  property,  $264,195;  total,  $2,391,661. 

The  celebration  of  July  4  was  observed  with  more  than  or¬ 
dinary  enthusiasm.  The  officers  of  the  day  were,  W.  W. 
Tredway,  Marshal;  A.  A.  McDonnel,  E.  B.  Dean  and  F. 
Briggs,  Assistants;  J.  C.  Fairchild,  President;  J.  B.  Brit- 
tan,  Chaplain;  J.  R.  Baltzell,  Reader;  and  Hon.  A.  McAr¬ 
thur,  Orator.  The  “  Governor’s  Guards,”  Capt.  Delaplaine, 
18 


266 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


the  “  Madison  Guards,”  Capt.  Byrne,  and  the  “  Dane  County 
Cavalry,”  Capt.  Orton,  were  in  the  procession;  the  engine 
companies  and  Hook  and  Ladder  Company  also  participated. 
In  the  afternoon,  a  regatta  was  held  on  Lake  Mendota,  under 
the  management  of  C.  G.  Mayers.  One  of  the  features  of  the 
celebration  in  the  morning  was  a  Ragamuffin  Cavalcade,  which 
attracted  much  attention. 

Henry  Barnard,  LL.D.,  of  Connecticut,  who  had  been 
elected  Chancellor  of  the  University  in  1858,  entered  upon  his 
duties  in  the  month  of  May,  1859,  and  on  the  27th  of  July 
was  formally  inducted  into  the  office.  From  the  report  of  the 
Board  of  Regents,  it  appears  that  the  whole  number  of  stu¬ 
dents  in  attendance  in  the  several  departments  was  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  fifty-nine. 

Chancellor  Barnard  resigned  his  position  in  June,  1860. 
The  Board,  however,  did  not  accept  of  the  same  until  January, 
1861.  The  University  was  without  a  Chancellor  until  June  16,. 
when  J.  L.  Pickard,  LL.D.,  was  elected.  He,  however,  did  not 
accept.  During  all  this  period,  the  internal  administration  was 
conducted  by  Prof.  J.  W.  Sterling,  who  was  made  Dean  of 
the  Faculty  in  June,  1860,  and  continued  in  that  capacity  till 
June,  1865,  when  he  was  elected  Vice  Chancellor. 

Thos.  W.  Sutherland,  Esq.,  an  early  settler,  died  at  Sacra¬ 
mento,  Cal.,  Feb.  2,  1859.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of  Hon.  Joel. 
B.  Sutherland,  of  Philadelphia.  In  1835,  he  first  came  to 
Indiana  with  Hon.  H.  L.  Ellsworth,  Commissioner  of  Patents, 
as  a  clerk  of  a  commission  to  settle  some  Indian  matters.  He 
then  crossed  the  country  to  St.  Louis,  thence  up  the  Missouri 
to  Council  Bluffs,  from  which  place,  with  a  pony,  he  trav¬ 
ersed  the  then  savage  wilderness  to  the  upper  waters  of  the 
Mississippi,  at  or  near  the  St.  Anthony;  from  thence  he  pro¬ 
cured  a  skiff,  and  floated  down  the  river  to  the  mouth  of  Rock 
river,  and  paddled  his  skiff  up  that  stream  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Catfish;  up  the  Catfish,  through  the  chain  of  lakes,  to  the 
point  upon  which  the  city  of  Madison  now  stands,  then  only 
inhabited  by  Indians.  Here  he  spent  some  time  in  an  Indian 
camp  on  the  east  side  of  Lake  Monona,  opposite  the  Capitol, 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


267 


and  this  he  then  resolved  upon  as  his  future  home.  After  a 
short  visit  to  Philadelphia,  he  returned,  and,  as  soon  as  the 
lands  came  into  market,  made  considerable  purchases  in  this 
neighborhood,  and  settled  at  Madison  very  soon  after  it  was 
fixed  upon  as  the  capital  of  the  Territory,  and  was  elected  the 
first  President  of  the  incorporated  village. 

In  1841,  he  was  appointed  United  States  District  Attorney 
for  the  Territory,  which  office  he  held  four  years.  He  was 
appointed  to  the  same  office  by  Mr.  Polk,  in  1848.  In  the 
spring  of  1849,  he  took  the  overland  route  to  California,  through 
the  valley  of  the  Gfila,  and  landed  at  San  Diego.  He  subse¬ 
quently  removed  to  San  Francisco,  where  he  practised  law  with 
success  until  he  was  appointed  to  the  office  of  Collector  of  the 
Port  of  Sacramento  by  Mr.  Buchanan. 

Mr.  Sutherland  died  of  congestion  of  the  lungs,  leaving  a 
wife  and  one  child. 

In  his  private  relations,  he  was  a  noble,  generous  hearted 
man,  highly  esteemed  by  every  one,  and  will  long  be  remem: 
bered  by  the  early  settlers  of  Madison. 

The  city  election  of  1860  was  held  April  3.  Hon.  Geo.  B. 
Smith*  received  724  votes  for  Mayor,  and  David  Atwood,  718; 
the. former  was  elected  by  six  majority.  The  following  Aider- 
men  were  also  elected:  Peter  H^  Turner  and  Farrel  O’Brien, 
1st  ward;  D.  K.  Tenney  and  J.  W.  Sumner,  2d  ward;  Darwin 
Clark  and  Kyron  Tierney,  3d  ward;  Timothy  Kinney  and 
John  Y.  Smith,  4th  ward;  A.  B*.  Braley  was  elected  Police 
Justice;  J.  C.  Schette,  Treasurer;  and  P.  Nieumann,  J.  W. 

*Hon.  Geo.  B.  Smith,  son  of  Judge  Reuben  Smith,  was  born  at  Parma 
Corners,  a  village  in  the  town  of  Parma,  Monroe  county,  N.  Y.,  May 
22,  1823.  When  a  child,  he  removed  with  his  parents  to  Ohio,  and  re¬ 
sided  at  Cleveland,  where  he  studied  law,  and  also  at  Medina.  In 
April,  1843,  he  removed  to  Wisconsin,  and  after  a  year’s  residence  at 
Kenosha,  removed  to  Madison,  where  he  still  makes  his  residence.  He 
was  District  Attorney  of  Dane  county  from  1845  to  1851,  excepting  two 
years;  a  member  of  the  first  Constitutional  Convention,  1846;  State  Attor¬ 
ney  General,  1854,  1855;  member  of  Assembly,  1859,  I$64,  1869;  Mayor 
of  city  of  Madison,  1858,  1859,  i860. 


268 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


Mayhew,  H.  L.  Foster  and  H.  W.  Remington,  Justices  of 
the  Peace. 

The  Bank  of  Madison  was  organized  April  17,  with  a  capital 
of  125,000,  Simeon  Mills,  President,  J.  L.  Hill,  Cashier,  and 
opened  as  a  temporary  place  of  business,  the  rooms  formerly 
occupied  by  the  Bank  of  the  Capital. 

Thq  celebration  of  July  4th  was  in  one  sense  a  county  celebra¬ 
tion.  The  officers  of  the  day  were  Hon.  L.  B.  Vilas,  President, 
one  Vice  President  from  each  township;  E.  B.  Dean,  Jr.,  Mar¬ 
shal;  Rev.  A.  McWright,  Chaplain;  Frank  A.  Haskell,  Reader, 
and  Prof.  J.  D.  Butler,  Orator.  Among  other  incidents,  was 
the  visit  of  the  venerable  Nathaniel  Ames,  a  soldier  of  the 
Revolution,  who  was  in  his  one  hundredth  year.  He  came 
from  Oregon,  accompanied  by  some  forty  teams,  filled  with 
farmers  and  their  families,  to  celebrate  the  day.  Mr.  Ames  was 
two  and  a  half  years  in  the  army,  and  was  present  at  the  execu¬ 
tion  of  Andre.  The  military  and  fire  companies  were  in  the 
procession.  The  printers  had  a  small  press  on  wheels,  and 
were  engaged  in  printing  and  distributing  handbills  to  the 
crowd.  In  the  afternoon,  “Ye  Ancient  and  Horrible  Artillery,” 
in  masquerade  costume,  had  a  parade  which  was  greatly  enjoyed 
by  the  visitors. 

On  the  12th  of  September,  Hon.  William  H.  Seward  and 
Hon.  Charles  Francis  Adams  visited  Madison,  and  were  en¬ 
tertained  b}r  the  citizens.  These  gentlemen  delivered  addresses 
from  the  balcony  of  the  Vilas  House,  and  also  from  the  eastern 
steps  of  the  Capitol.  A  large  attendance  of  persons  from  the 
country  was  present. 

Dunning,  Jones  &  Co.  commenced  building  their  drug  store 
on  Pinckney  street,  in  May,  which  was  opened  July  2.  It  is  a 
fine,  three  story  building,  of  cut  stone,  with  large  show  win¬ 
dows,  iron  columns,  etc.  During  the  season,  S.  Klauber  &Co. 
commenced  building  a  block  of  three  stores,  on  the  same  street, 
near  the  corner  of  Main  street,  67i  feet  front  by  100  feet  in 
depth,  three  stories,  stone  fronts,  which  was  a  fine  improvement. 

The  school  census  of  1860  shows  that  there  were  2,240  per¬ 
sons  in  the  city  between  the  ages  of  four  and  twenty  years. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


269 


In  the  latter  part  of  A.  D.  1860,  it  became  apparent  to  the 
Board  of  Education,  that  on  account  of  the  lack  of  means  to 
sustain  the  schools  at  that  time  in  successful  operation,  some 
one  or  more  of  them  must  be  permanently  discontinued,  and, 
perhaps,  all  of  them  be  suspended  for  a  part  of  the  coming 
year.  After  a  careful  examination  of  the  facts  in  the  case,  it 
was  finally  deemed  expedient  to  discontinue  indefinitely,  the 
High  School ;  consequently,  at  the  close  of  the  first  school  term 
of  1861,  the  High  School  ceased  to  exist.  In  order  to  com¬ 
pensate,  as  far  as  possible,  for  this  loss  of  educational  facilities 
to  the  city,  an  arrangement  was  entered  into  with  Miss  L.  L. 
Coues,  wherein  she  engaged,  after  the  close  of  the  first  term  of 
the  High  School  in  1861,  u  to  carry  it  on  as  a  school  of  the 
same  grade  as  before,  without  expense  to  the  Board,  and  under 
ijieir  supervision,  provided  she  could  have  the  use  of  the  build¬ 
ing,  furniture  and  apparatus,  for  one  year,  with  the  privilege 
of  two.”  This  arrangement  was  afterwards  so  far  modified  as 
to  permit  her  to  open  her  school,  the  first  term,  for  the  admis¬ 
sion  of  females  only.  In  accordance  with  this  arrangement, 
Miss  Coues  opened  and  continued,  through  the  remainder  of 
the  year,  a  female  High  School,  affording  facilities  for  those 
citizens  who  wished  their  daughters  to  pursue  a  course  of  study 
in  the  higher  branches  of  female  education,  to  secure  these  ad¬ 
vantages  at  the  trifling  expense  of  the  mere  tuition  fees,  these 
fees  being  paid,  not  by  the  Board,  but  by  those  who  enjoyed 
the  advantages  of  the  school.  The  Board  were  satisfied  that 
this,  though  not  what  could  have  been  desired,  was  still  the 
best  arrangement  for  the  interests  of  education  in  the  city,  that, 
under  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  could  have  been  made. 

In  addition  to  the  indefinite  discontinuance  of  the  High 
School,  the  Board  found  itself  reluctantly  compelled  to  sus¬ 
pend  all  the  other  schools  of  the  city  during  the  summer  term. 
This  the  Board  deemed  a  serious  loss  to  the  children  of  the  city, 
but  a  loss  necessitated  by  its  restricted  finances. 

The  Legislature  of  1861  having  passed  an  u  act  to  create  the 
offices  of  county  superintendent  of  schools,”  the  Board,  in  ac¬ 
cordance  with  the  provisions  of  that  act,  adopted,  on  the  15th 
of  August,  the  following  resolution  : 


270 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


“  Resolved ,  That  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  city  of  Madi¬ 
son  do  hereby  elect  that  said  cityr  shall,  for  the  next  ensuing 
year,  be  exempt  from  the  provisions  of  chapter  one  hundred 
and  seventy-nine  of  the  General  Laws  of  1861,  being  an  act  to 
create  the  office  of  county  superintendent  of  schools,  in  accord¬ 
ance  with  section  eleven  of  said  act.” 

A  copy  of  the  resolution  was  filed  in  the  office  of  the  Clerk 
of  the  Board  of  County  Supervisors. 

By  this  action,  the  Board  of  Education  retained  the  manage¬ 
ment  of  the  schools  of  the  city  entirely  in  their  own  hands, 
and  relieved  the  city  from  the  burden  of  aiding  in  the  support 
of  the  county  superintendent  of  schools. 

The  number  of  scholars  that  attended  the  city  schools  during 
the  spring  and  fall  terms,  was  not  quite  650.  The  amount  of 
money  expended  during  the  year,  for  sustaining  the  schools 
under  the  care  of  the  Board,  was  $3,460.35. 

James  Morrison,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Madison,  died 
December  23,  1860,  aged  61  years.  He  was  horn  in  Kaskaskia, 
Illinois,  September  30,  1799.  His  father,  Wm.  Morrison,  was 
a  native  of  Bucks  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  his  mother  was  a 
French  lady.  In  early  life,  Col.  Morrison  was  engaged  with 
his  father  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  fur  trade.  He  removed  to 
Wisconsin  in  1827,  and  his  first  business  was  a  lead  miner  and 
smelter  at  Porter’s  Grove,  near  Dodgeville.  He  came  to  Mad¬ 
ison  in  the  spring  of  1838,  when  he  immediately  engaged  in 
business  —  was  contractor  for  building  the  Capitol;  in  1838, 
erected  the  American  House,  and  was  long  a  prominent  citizen 
of  Madison.  He  did  not  move  his  family  here  till  near  the  close 
of  1839.  He  was  Territorial  Treasurer  under  Gov.  Doty’s  and 
Tallmadge’s  administrations,  from  1841  to  1845.  He  was  the 
owner  of  a  large  landed  property,  in  Wisconsin,  Illinois  and  St. 
Louis.  He  left  a  widow,  who  died  at  the  residence  of  her  grand¬ 
daughter  in  California,  August  28,  1866,  aged  66  years,  and 
three  daughters  —  one  the  estimable  lady  of  Hon.  N.  W.  Dean, 
of  Madison.  The  funeral  took  place  December  26;  Hon.  O. 
Cole,  Hon.  L.  B.  Vilas,  Hon.  T.  T.  Whittlesey,  Col.  G.  H. 
Slaughter,  Hon.  M.  M.  Jackson  and  E.  M.  Williamson,  Esq., 
pall  bearers. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


271 


The  central  building  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin  was 
completed  this  year.  A  description  of  the  building  has  been 
given  in  the  record  of  improvements  of  the  year  1857. 

In  February  1861,  the  Congregational  church  which  had 
been  without  a  settled  minister  since  November,  1858,  invited 
Bev.  L.  Taylor,  of  Bloomington,  Ill.,  to  become  its  pastor. 
After  a  faithful  and  laborious  [pastorate  of  three  years,  he  re¬ 
signed  in  January,  1864,  and  removed  to  Farmington,  Illinois. 
Previous  to  Mr.  Taylor’s  coming,  the  pulpit  had  been  supplied 
by  Prof.  J.  D.  Butler  of  the  State  University. 

The  city  election  was  held  on  the  2d  of  April.  Hon.  Levi 
B.  Vilas*  was  the  only  candidate  for  the  office  of  Mayor,  and 
received  967  votes  with  195  scattering.  F.  C.  Festner  was 
elected  Treasurer,  and  the  following  aldermen:  1st  ward,  Geo. 
E.  Bryant  and  P.  H.  Turner;  2d  ward,  D.  K.  Tenney  and  J. 

*  Hon.  Levi  B.  Vilas  was  born  in  Sterling,  Lamoille  county,  Vermont, 
February  25,  1811;  received  an  academic  education  and  pursued  a  partial 
.collegiate  course,  but  was  prevented  by  ill  health  from  graduating ;  is  by 
profession  a  lawyer,  having  been  admitted  to  the  bar  in  St.  Albans,  Ver¬ 
mont,  in  1833,  but  has  retired  from  practice.  During  his  residence  in  Ver¬ 
mont,  he  was  the  first  postmaster  at  Morrisville  in  1834.  The  same  year, 
he  removed  to  Johnson ;  was  elected  to  the  State  Constitutional  Convention 
from  that  place,  in  1835,  and  represented  the  town  in  the  legislature  of 
J836  and  1837,  and  was  elected  by  it  in  1836,  one  of  the  State  commis¬ 
sioners  of  the  Deaf, Dumb  and  Blind;  during  the  same  period,  he  held  the 
-office  of  Register  of  Probate;  removed  to  Chelsea  in  i838,  and  represented 
that  town  in  the  legislature  in  1840-1843,  and  was  the  democratic  candidate 
for  speaker  for  the  same  years ;  was  the  democratic  candidate  for  congress 
in  1844;  the  next  year  was  elected  State  Senator  from  Orange  county,  and 
reelected  in  1846;  he  held  the  office  of  Judge  of  Probate  for  three  years  in 
Orange  county;  and  was  supported  by  his  party  for  United  States  Senator 
in  1848;  was  member  of  the  State  Constitutional  Convention  in  1850  from 
Chelsea.  He  came  to  Wisconsin  in  1851,  and  settled  at  Madison;  repre¬ 
sented  the  Madison  district  in  the  Assembly  in  the  years  1855  and  1868, 
:and  was  Mayor  of  the  city  from  April,  1861,  to  April,  1862;  was  appointed 
by  Gov.  Salomon  and  served  as  Draft  Commissioner  in  the  war  for  the 
Union  in  1862;  was  a  Regent  of  the  State  University  for  twelve  years  pre¬ 
vious  to  its  reorganization ;  was  the  democratic  candidate  for  Secretary 
•of  State  in  1865,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Assembly  in  1873,  and  candi¬ 
date  for  Speaker. 


272 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  ARD  THE 


A.  Ellis;  3d  ward,  K.  Tierney  and  j.  G.  Ott;  4th  ward,  G* 

B.  Seekels  and  J.  Y.  Smith. 

An  act  was  passed,  approved  April  11,  1861,  during  the  last 
session  of  the  legislature,  appropriating  forty  thousand  dollars 
for  the  enlargement  of  the  State  Hospital  for  the  Insane. 
That  act  authorizes  the  Board  of  Trustees,  or  such  committee 
as  might  be  designated  by  them,  to  construct  a  longitudinal 
and  traverse  wing,  to  be  located  on  the  west  side  of  the  centre 
building,  corresponding  in  dimensions  with  the  wings  on  tho 
east  side  of  said  centre  building.  In  pursuance  of  a  require¬ 
ment  of  said  act,  the  executive  committee  advertised  for  sealed 
proposals  for  furnishing  materals  and  doing  said  work;  and  at. 
the  time  designated  in  such  advertisement,  the  several  propo¬ 
sals  were  laid  before  the  Board,  to  be  examined  and  their  re- 
respective  merits  determined.  After  all  of  such  proposals  had 
been  considered  in  reference  to  the  price  proposed  and  the  gen¬ 
eral  interests  of  the  institution,  it  was  unanimously  agreed  and 
ordered  that  the  mason  work  and  furnishing  the  materials 
therefor,  should  be  let  to  Joseph  Parkins  of  the  county  of 
Dane,  for  the  sum  of  twenty  thousand  and  five  hundred  dollars, 
and  that  the  carpenter  work  and  painting  and  glazing,  with 
material  therefor,  should  be  let  to  Bradley  and  Norton  of  the 
city  of  Racine,  for  the  sum  of  nine  thousand  four  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars. 

In  accordance  with  the  said  order,  contracts  were  entered 
into  between  the  executive  committee  and  the  aforementioned 
parties,  on  the  6th  day  of  June,  1861;  and  the  requisite  bonds 
to  secure  the  completion  of  the  contract  and  the  faithful  per¬ 
formance  ol  the  work,  were  duly  made  and  deposited  by  the= 
several  contractors. 

The  heating  apparatus,  gas  pipes  and  fixtures,  registers, 
window  guards  and  sewerage,  are  not  included  in  either  of  the 
above  mentioned  contracts,  as  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  have 
that  work  performed  by  the  State,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Board,  by  purchasing  the  materials  and  having  them  fitted  by 
persons  in  their  employ.  The  Board  of  Trustees,  in  their  annual 
report  for  1861,  speak  of  the  commendable  zeal  of  the  contract- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


27 $ 


ors  in  the  prosecution  of  the  work,  which  was  commenced  on 
the  first  of  June  of  that  year,  and  which  was  so  far  advanced  as 
to  be  roofed  and  enclosed  before  the  winter  set  in. 

The  Board  also  report  the  whole  number  of  patients  received 
into  the  hospital  since  it  was  opened  in  July,  1860  to  October 
1,  1861,  one  hundred  and  forty-five. 

It  will  be  necessary,  at  this  point  of  our  history,  to  give  an 
account  of  the  momentous  events  which  were  close  at  hand, 
and  in  which  Madison,  as  the  seat  of  government,  took  an 
important  part.  It  is  not  necessary  to  recount  the  causes, 
running  through  a  long  term  of  years,  which  led  to  the  insur¬ 
rection  of  the  people  of  a  portion  of  the  states  of  the  union, 
against  the  general  government,  and  arrayed  more  than  a 
million  of  citizens  in  arms  —  a  most  bloody  war,  of  four  years’ 
duration,  involving  the  expenditure  of  almost  untold  treasure, 
and  the  loss,  on  either  side,  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  the 
country’s  bravest  and  best  men.  While  all  these  important 
events  were  transpiring,  the  people  of  Madison  and  county  of 
Dane  had  their  share  of  them.  Their  coffers  were  opened, 
their  young  men  were  sent  forth,  some  of  them  to  lay  their 
lives  upon  the  altar  of  their  country,  others  to  return  maimed 
for  life,  and  others  to  return  at  the  end  of  the  conflict,  weary" 
and  worn,  crowned  with  victorious  wreaths. 

As  is  well  known,  the  state  of  South  Carolina  passed  an 
ordinance  of  secession  from  the  general  government,  on  the 
12th  of  April,  and  commenced  open  hostilities  by  firing  from 
James’  Island  upon  Fort  Sumter,  garrisoned  by  Major  Robert 
Andersok  and  about  seventy  men.  The  Fort  was  surrendered 
on  the  14th  of  April.  On  the  day  succeeding  (15th)  President 
Lincoln  issued  his  proclamation  declaring  the  southern  states 
in  insurrection,  and  issued  a  call  for  75,000  three  months’' 
volunteers,  to  aid  in  suppressing  the  rebellion.  In  Wisconsin, 
as  in  all  the  other  northern  states,  the  public  pulse  quickened 
under  the  excitement,  and  on  every  hand  the  national  flag 
was  displayed,  public  enthusiasm  knew  no  bounds,  and  in  city,, 
town  and  hamlet,  the  burden  on  every  tongue  was  for  a  vigor¬ 
ous  prosecution  of  the  war. 


2U 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


On  the  15th  of  April,  an  informal  meeting  was  held  at  the 
Governor’s  office,  to  consider  events,  Judge  0.  Cole  in  the 
chair,  who  made  a  speech  full  of  patriotism  and  the  noblest 
sentiments.  On  the  day  following,  Gov.  Randall  notified 
Capt.  Geo.  E.  Bryant  that  the  services  of  the  Madison  Guards 
had  been  accepted,  and  he  was  authorized  to  fill  up  his  com¬ 
pany;  and  on  the  same  day  the  Governor  issued  a  proclama¬ 
tion  for  the  organization  of  the  First  Regiment  of  Wisconsin 
Volunteers.  The  enrolment  of  men  for  the  Madison  Guards 
began  April  17th;  among  others  were  G.  E.  Bryant,  Chas.  E. 
Wood,  C.  L.  Harris,  L.  D.  Aldrich,  L.  Fairchild,  D.  C. 
Poole,  J.  K.  Proudfit,  J.  F.  Randolph,  E.  A.  Tappan  and 
W.  H.  Plunkett.  Twenty-eight  names  were  enrolled  on  the 
17th,  which  number  was,  on  the  20th,  increased  to  one  hundred 
nnd  eighteen. 

On  the  17th,  the  Governor’s  Guards,  by  Judge  J.  P.  Atwood, 
waited  on  Gov.  Randall  and  tendered  their  services,  which 
were  accepted  on  the  18th.  The  company  had  seventy-three 
names  enrolled. 

On  the  evening  of  the  18th,  a  large  and  enthusiastic  meeting 
was  held  at  the  Assembly  Room  in  the  State  Capitol,  at  which 
Hon.  H.  S.  Orton  presided.  A  committee  consisting  of  J.  N. 
Jones,  L.  B.  Vilas,  W.  F.  Porter,  S.  Klauber  and  Neely 
Gray  was  appointed  to  receive  from  the  citizens  of  Madison 
subscriptions  for  the  support  of  families  as  shall  need  aid.  At 
this  meeting  $7,490  was  voluntarily  subscribed. 

On  the  20th  of  April,  the  Governor  commissioned  J.  F.  Ran¬ 
dolph,  late  Orderly  Sergeant  of  the  Governor’s  Guards,  as 
First  Lieutenant,  to  raise  a  new  company  for  the  Second, 
or  reserve  regiment,  and  on  the  22d  he  reported  his  company 
full. 

On  the  24th  of  April,  the  two  Madison  companies  left  for 
camp  at  Milwaukee,  escorted  to  the  depot  by  the  Fire  Depart¬ 
ment  and  the  Turners’  Association. 

In  the  organization  of  the  First  Regiment,  the  Madison 
Guards  were  known  as  Company  E,  and  the  Governor’s  Guards 
ns  Company  K,  and  of  the  Field  Staff  officers,  Chas.  L.  Harris, 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


275 


Lieutenant  Colonel;  Harry  Bingham,  Assistant  Quarter¬ 
master;  L.  J.  Dixon,  Assistant  Surgeon,  and  Chas.  Fairchild, 
Assistant  Commissary,  were  of  Madison. 

The  officers  of  Company  E  were,  Geo.  E.  Bryant,  Captain; 
Wm.  H.  Plunkett  and  Wm.  H.  Miller,  Lieutenants;  and  Com¬ 
pany  K,  Lucius  Fairchild,  Captain;  DeWitt  C.  Poole  and 
Jas.  K.  Proudfit,  Lieutenants. 

On  the  22d  of  April,  a  company  known  as  the  u  Hickory 
Guards”  was  organized  for  perfecting  themselves  in  military 
tactics.  Of  this  Company  L.  S.  Dixon,  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  was  Captain. 

Randall  Guards  was  fully  organized  April  27th,  with  J.  F. 
Randolph,  as  Captain,  and  A.  A.  Meredith  and  Nat.  Rol- 
lis,  as  Lieutenants.  The  company  was  known  as  Company  H 
of  the  Second  Wisconsin  Regiment. 

The  two  Madison  companies  with  the  other  companies  com¬ 
prising  the  First  Regiment,  rendezvoused  at  Milwaukee  on 
Saturday,  April  27th,  of  which  regiment  Capt.  J.  C.  Stark¬ 
weather  of  Milwaukee,  had  been  commissioned  Colonel ;  Chas. 
L.  Harris  of  Madison,  Lieutenant  Colonel;  Dayid  H.  Lane  of 
Kenosha,  as  Major,  and  Alfred  R.  Chapin  of  Milwaukee,  as 
Adjutant. 

The  organization  of  the  regiment  was  completed  and  mus¬ 
tered  into  the  United  States  service  on  the  17th  of  May,  and 
the  War  Department  informed  that  it  awaited  marching 
orders.  The  troops  remained  in  camp  until  the  9th  of  June, 
when,  in  obedience  to  orders  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  it  left 
the  State  for  Harrisburg,  Pensylvania,  fully  equipped  by  the 
State,  with  the  exception  of  arms. 

Of  the  further  history  of  the  Regiment,  under  the  first  call, 
it  is  only  necessary  to  state,  that  it  was  assigned  to  Maj.  Gen.  Pat¬ 
terson’s  Division,  July  2d;  led  the  advance  on  Martinsburg,  par¬ 
ticipated  in  the  battle  of  Falling  Waters,  in  which  battle  Color 
Bearer,  Fred.  B.  Huchting,  of  Company  E,  Madison,  was  the 
first  man  wounded,  and  Sol.  Wise  of  Company  K,  also  of 
Madison,  was  taken  prisoner,  and  won  a  reputation  for  bravery 
and  veteran-like  conduct  excelled  by  no  other  regiment. 


276 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


After  serving  out  the  time  for  which  it  was  enlisted,  the  regi¬ 
ment  returned  to  Camp  Scott,  and  was  mustered  out  of  service 
August  22,  1861.  A  portion  of  the  Madison  companies,  about 
eighty-five  men,  arrived  here  August  23d,  and  after  an  ample 
dinner  at  the  Railroad  House,  formed  a  line,  and  a  pro¬ 
cession  of  the  Young  American  Cornet  Band,  the  Governor’s 
Guards,  Fire  Companies  and  the  Turners’  Society,  and  accom¬ 
panied  by  the  State  fields  piece,  marched  to  the  front  of  the 
State  Capitol,  where  a  welcome  address  was  delivered  by 
Gov.  Randall,  after  which  the  company  dispersed.  The 
remainder  of  the  companies  were  left  at  Milwaukee  and 
returned  home  at  their  convenience. 

The  Governor  having  determined  to  organize  more  regiments 
as  a  reserve  for  future  calls,  accepted  the  proposition  of  the 
State  Agricultural  Society,  tendering  the  use  of  their  fair 
grounds  at  Madison  as  one  of  the  camps.  These  grounds  were 
already  enclosed  with  a  high  hoard  fence,  with  several  buildings 
which  might  be  fitted  up  for  use  until  more  substantial  ones 
could  be  built.  Carpenters  and  laborers  were  set  at  work  on 
the  27th  of  April,  under  the  direction  of  Maj.  H.  A.  Tenney. 
William  W.  Tredway,  of  Madison,  was  commissioned  Quar¬ 
termaster  General,  and  at  once  proceeded,  in  behalf  of  the 
State,  to  procure  clothing,  camp  and  garrison  equipage  for  the 
Second  Regiment,  and  for  the  six  infantry  regiments  sub¬ 
sequently  raised  under  the  proclamation  of  the  President. 
Simeon  Mills,  of  Madison,  was  about  the  same  time  commis¬ 
sioned  Paymaster  General,  and  paid  the  several  regiments  from 
date  of  enlistment  up  to  the  time  of  their  departure  for  the 
field.  The  Second  Regiment  was  ordered  to  move  into  camp 
at  Madison,  on  the  1st  of  May,  which  was,  by  Col.  S.  Park 
Coon,  named  Camp  Randall,  in  honor  of  the  Governor.  This 
regiment  was  first  organized  for  three  months’  service,  but,  on 
the  7th  of  May,  orders  were  received  to  recruit  the  regiment 
for  three  years  or  the  war,  and  the  Governor,  wishing  to 
gratify  the  enthusiastic  desires  of  the  companies  who  had  ten¬ 
dered  their  services,  proceeded  also  to  organize  the  Third  and 
Fourth  Regiments.  During  this  time,  the  ladies  of  this  city 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


277 


performed  a  large  amount  of  labor,  done  at  a  time  when  great 
suffering  would  have  occurred  if  their  timely  assistance  had 
not  been  rendered.  The  ladies  of  other  cities  and  villages  were 
also  diligently  eu  gaged  in  the  same  benevolent  work. 

The  Second  Regiment  left  the  State  on  the  20th  of  June, 
and  proceeded  to  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  one  company  of  which  was 
enlisted  at  Madison,  the  “  Randall  Guards,”  known  as  Company 
H,  of  which  J.  F.  Randolph  was  Captain,  A.  A.  Meredith, 
First  Lieutenant,  and  Nat.  Rollins,  Second  Lieutenant. 

This  regiment  was  called  upon  to  suffer  much  of  privation 
and  hardship.  They  were  in  the  u  Onward  to  Richmond  ” 
movement,  participated  in  the  skirmish  at  Bull  Run,  July  19, 
took  an  active  part  in  the  memorable  battle  of  July  21,  and 
won  a  high  reputation  for  bravery  and  soldier-like  conduct. 
They  were  the  last  to  leave  the  field  at  the  disgraceful  finish, 
and  their  thinned  ranks  at  roll  call  the  next  morning,  proved 
the  part  they  acted.  As  an  evidence  of  what  the  Second  Regi¬ 
ment  had  been  through,  it  is  sufficient  to  state  that  it  left  the 
State  June  20,  over  one  thousand  strong,  and,  October  1,  re¬ 
ported  for  duty  six  hundred  and  eighty-nine. 

Of  the  “  Randall  Guards  ”  (Company  H),  in  these  engage¬ 
ments,  we  find  the  following  record:  Julius  F.  Randolph,* 
Captain,  wounded  July  21,  1861;  A.  A.  Meredith,  First  Lieu¬ 
tenant,  wounded,  and  arm  disabled;  G.  M.  Humphrey,  First 
Sergeant,  wounded;  Theodore  D.  Bahn,  Fourth  Sergeant, 
wounded;  S.  M.  Bond,  Fifth  Sergeant,  wounded;  Peter  Mor¬ 
rison,  Corporal,  wounded;  G.  A.  Beck,  private,  wounded  and 
taken  prisoner;  F.  M.  Buten,  private,  wounded;  Thos.  Can¬ 
ning,  private,  wounded;  Thos.  Murphy,  private,  wounded;  E. 
L.  Reed,  private,  taken  prisoner;  E.  R.  Reed,  private,  wounded; 
Henry  Storm,  private,  wounded;  J.  M.  Zook,  private,  wounded. 

After  this  battle,  a  number  of  changes  took  place  in  the 
officers  of  the  regiment;  of  these,  Lucius  Fairchild,  formerly 
Captain  of  Company  K  of  the  First  Regiment  of  three  months 
volunteers,  was  appointed  Lieutenant  Colonel;  J.  D.  Ruggles, 
Quartermaster,  and  A.  J.  Ward,  Surgeon,  all  of  this  place. 

*  Capt.  Randolph  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Gainsville,  August  20,  1862. 


278 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


The  Third  Regiment,  Chas.  S.  Hamilton,  Colonel,  was  or¬ 
dered  into  camp  at  Fond  du  Lac,  and  left  for  Harrisburg,  July 
12.  Of  this  regiment,  the  only  company  from  this  section  was. 
the  “Dane  County  Guards”  (Company  K),  of  which  William 
Hawley  was  Captain;  Theo.  S.  Widvey,  First  Lieutenant,  and 
Warham  Parks,  Second  Lieutenant. 

The  Fourth  Regiment  encamped  at  Racine,  June  6,  Halbert 
E.  Paine,  Colonel,  in  which  Madison  and  Dane  county  were 
not  represented  by  a  company.  L.  D.  Aldrich,  of  this  place,, 
was  appointed  Adjutant. 

The  Fifth  Regiment  was  called  to  Camp  Randall,  June  21, 
Amasa  Cobb,  Colonel.  Madison  was  not  represented  in  this 
Regiment. 

The  Sixth  Regiment  was  called  to  Camp  Randall,  June  25, 
Lysander  Cutler,  Colonel.  Of  the  commissioned  officers, 
the  following  were  from  Madison:  J.  P.  Atwtood,  Lieutenant 
Colonel;  Frank  A.  Haskell,  Adjutant;  C.  B.  Chapman,  Sur¬ 
geon.  Col.  Atwood  resigned  on  account  of  ill  health,  Septem¬ 
ber  21.  There  were  no  companies  from  Madison. 

The  Seventh  Regiment  came  to  Camp  Randall  in  the  month 
of  August,  and  its  organization  completed  September  2,  Joseph 
Yan  Dor,  Colonel.  Of  this  regiment,  from  Madison  were 
Chas.  W.  Cook,  Adjutant,  and  Ernest  Kramer,  Assistant  Sur¬ 
geon.  Dane  county  was  represented  by  a  company  called 
Stoughton  Guards. 

The  Eighth  Regiment  was  organized  September  4,  Robert 
C.  Murphy,  Colonel,  and  was  not  called  to  Camp  Randall  until 
the  16th.  The  following  commissioned  officers  were  from  Mad¬ 
ison:  Geo.  W.  Robinson,  Lt.  Colonel;  John  W.  Jefferson, 
Major;  Ezra  T.  Sprague,  Adjutant,  and  Wm.  Hobbins,  Assist¬ 
ant  Surgeon.  There  were  no  Madison  companies. 

The  Ninth  Regiment  was  organized  at  Camp  Sigel,  at  Mil¬ 
waukee,  and  was  recruited  among  the  German  population, 
Frederic  Salomon,  Colonel,  'and  was  mustered  into  the  ser¬ 
vice  October  26.  In  this  regiment,  Company  F  was  composed 
of  the  Madison  Sharp  Shooters,  of  which  company,  Dominick 
Ha  streiter  was  Captain,  Martin  Voigle  and  John  Gerber, 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


279 


were  Lieutenants,  as  the  first  officers.  Some  changes  were 
made  before  they  left  camp,  and  Martin  Voigle  was  Captain, 
and  A.  P.  Dcerschlag,  First  Lieutenant. 

The  Tenth  Regiment  was  organized  at  Camp  Holton,  MiR 
waukee,  and  mustered  into  service  October  14,  Alfred  R. 
Chapin,  Colonel;  Benton  McConnel  of  Madison,  was  Quar- 
master,  and  was  the  only  person  holding  an  office.  Ho  com-- 
panics  were  attached  to  the  regiment  from  Madison. 

The  Eleventh  Regiment  was  organized  September  18.  If 
was  intended  at  the  outset  to  be  a  Dane  county  regiment,  but 
it  was  soon  ascertained  that  Dane  county  had  already  honored? 
too  many  drafts  upon  her  citizens,  to  be  able  to  fill  up  the  regi¬ 
ment,  and  it  was  found  necessary  to  do  this,  in  part,  outside  of 
the  county.  The  Regiment  was  called  into  Camp  Randall  dur¬ 
ing  the  month  of  October,  and  placed  under  the  command  of 
Col.  Chas.  L.  Harris  of  Madison,  with  the  following  field  and 
staff  officers:  Chas.  A.  Wood,  Lt.  Colonel;  Arthur  Platt, 
Major;  Daniel  Lincoln,  Adjutant;  Chas.  0.  Mayers,  Quar¬ 
termaster,  and  Jas.  B.  Brittan,  Chaplain;  H.  P.  Strong,  Sur¬ 
geon;  E.  Everett  and  C.  C.  Barnes,  Assistants.  All  of  the 
above,  with  the  exception  of  the  three  last  named,  were  from 
this  place.  Of  the  companies  comprising  the  regiment,  the 
following  were  made  up  of  Dane  county  volunteers:  Company 
A,  u  Watson  Guards,”  officered  by  D.  E.  Hough,  Captain;  P. 
W.  Jones,  and  W.  L.  Freeman,  Lieutenants.  Company  B, 
“Mendota  Guards,”  J.  H,  Hubbard,  Captain;  E.  S.  Oakley 
and  Jas.  M.  Bull,  Lieutenants,  and  consisted  of  101  men.  Com¬ 
panies  F  and  G,  the  u  Harvey  Zouaves  ”  and  u  Randall  Zouaves,” 
were  made  up  from  Dane  and  other  counties;  of  Company  F, 
E.  R.  Chase  of  Madison,  was  Captain.  The  regiment  left  for 
the  seat  of  war  November  20, 1861. 

The  Twelfth  Regiment  was  called  to  Camp  Randall  during 
the  month  of  October,  under  the  charge  of  Col.  George  E. 
Bryant,  formerly  Captain  of  Company  E,  of  Madison  Guards, 
First  Regiment  (three  months);  of  the  other  staff  and  regi¬ 
mental  officers  from  Madison,  were:  De  Witt  C.  Poole,  Lt. 
Colonel;  Andrew  Sexton,  Quartermaster;  Jas.  K.  Proudfit, 


280 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


Adjutant  (formerly  Second  Lieutenant,  Company  K,  Governor’s 
Guards  of  First  Regiment,  three  months),  and  Rev.  L.  B.  Ma- 
.son,  Chaplain.  There  was  no  Dane  county  company  con¬ 
nected  with  the  regiment. 

The  Thirteenth  Regiment  was  organized  September  17,  1861, 
and  volunteers  were  from  the  counties  of  Rock  and  Green — 
Maurice  Malony,  Colonel.  The  regiment  rendezvoused  at 
Janesville.  There  were  no  officers  or  companies  from  Dane 
county  attached  to  it. 

The  Fourteenth  Regiment  was  organized  in  November,  and 
was  rendezvoused  at  Camp  Wood,  Fond  du  Lac,  David  E. 
Wood,  Colonel.  There  was  no  representation  in  this  regiment 
from  Dane  county. 

The  Fifteenth  Regiment  was  organized  in  December,  at  Camp 
Randall,  and  was  known  as  the  Scandinavian  Regiment,  Hans 
€.  Heg,  Colonel;  Hans  Borchsenius  of  Madison,  was  Adjutant. 

The  Sixteenth  Regiment  was  organized  and  ordered  into 
camp  at  Madison  early  in  November,  Benj.  Allen,  Colonel. 
Of  the  field  and  staff  officers  from  Madison  were:  Cassius 
Fairchild,  Lt.  Colonel;  Thomas  Reynolds,  Major;  Geo.  Sabin, 
Adjutant.  No  Madison  companies  attached. 

The  Seventeenth  Regiment  was  not  fully  organized  until 
1862,  although  a  few  of  the  field  officers  were  appointed  in 
October,  1861.  Of  this  regiment  John  L.  Doran  was  Colonel; 
Wm.  H.  Plunkett  of  Madison,  was  Adjutant,  but  afterwards 
promoted  to  Major;  Thos.  Reynolds  was  Quartermaster,  but 
December  10th  was  promoted  Major  of  the  Sixteenth  Regiment. 
Mo  Madison  companies  represented. 

The  Eighteenth  Regiment  was  organized  the  latter  part  of 
October,  and  was  expected  to  occupy  Camp  Randall  as  soon  as 
the  Twelfth  had  commenced  to  move  for  the  seat  of  war.  Jas. 
£.  Alban  was  appointed  Colonel,  and  the  remaining  officers 
from  the  northeastern  portion  of  the  State, 

The  Nineteenth  Regiment  was  an  “  Independent,”  Regiment, 
the  Colonel,  Horace  T.  Sanders,  received  his  appointment 
from  the  War  Department.  It  rendezvoused  at  Racine,  and 
April  20,  1862,  was  ordered  to  Camp  Randall,  to  guard  rebel 
prisoners.  Madison  not  represented. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


281 


In  addition  to  the  above  eighteen  regiments  of  infantry  or¬ 
ganized  and  sent  into  the  field  in  1861,  there  were  three  cav¬ 
alry  companies  organized.  Of  Company  G,  First  Cavalry, 
Stephen  V.  Shipman  was  First  Lieutenant,  promoted  to  Cap¬ 
tain  of  Company  E,  in  1862;  E.  A.  Calkins,  Major,  and  John 
D.  Welch,  First  Lieutenant  and  Battalion  Adjutant  of  Com¬ 
pany  L,  Third  Cavalry;  and  ten  batteries  of  artillery.  The 
•officers  named  were  from  Madison. 

The  next  day  after  the  mustering  out  of  service  of  the  First 
Regiment,  its  late  Colonel,  John  C.  Starkweather,  was  com¬ 
missioned  as  commanding  officer  of  the  “  Three-years  First  Regi¬ 
ment.”  The  enlistment  went  on  rapidly,  and  the  companies 
began  to  rendezvous  at  Camp  Scott,  Milwaukee.  Of  the  field 
and  staff  officers,  Madison  was  represented  by  Harry  Bing¬ 
ham,  Quartermaster,  and  Dr.  Lucius  J.  Dixon,  Surgeon.  The 
companies  were  organized  in  the  counties  of  Milwaukee,  Ke¬ 
nosha,  Sheboygan,  Fond  du  Lac  and  St.  Croix.  The  regiment 
started  for  Louisville,  Ky.,  October  28. 

Such,  in  brief,  is  an  account  of  the  organization  of  the  first 
eighteen  regiments  that  were  formed  in  this  State  during  the 
year  1861.  It  will  be  seen  that  a  large  number  of  the  regi¬ 
ments  were  officered  in  part  by  Madison  and  Dane  county  men, 
and  the  companies  of  volunteers  will  show  that  this  county 
did  her  whole  duty  in  furnishing  her  quota  for  active  service. 

There  was  one  Edwin  L.  Reed,  Company  H,  Second 
Wisconsin  Regiment,  son  of  L.  T.  Reed  of  Stoughton,  Dane 
county,  who  was  sick  and  in  the  General  Hospital  in  Wash¬ 
ington.  Hearing  that  a  forward  movement  was  about  to  be 
made,  he  left  the  hospital  and  returned  to  the  company,  where, 
on  account  of  his  feeble  condition,  he  was  ordered  into  the 
Regimental  Hospital.  But  when,  at  last,  the  regiment  was 
formed  and  in  line  to  move  forward,  he  was  found  in  the  ranks, 
fully  equipped,  and  determined  to  go.  The  captain  expostu¬ 
lated,  but  without  effect.  The  “  double  quick  ”  at  Blackburn’s 
Ford,  Thursday,  July  18th,  was  too  much  for  him,  and  in  spite 
of  his  earnest  protests  he  was  ordered  into  the  Field  Hospital 
at  Centerville,  where  he  remained  until  after  the  fight  on  Sun- 
19 


282 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


day.  At  four  o’clock,  Monday  morning,  July  22d,  discovering 
the  Union  forces  had  all  gone,  he  awoke  a  wounded  friend,, 
and  together  they  started  on  the  retreat.  His  progress  was 
impeded  by  his  wounded  friend,  and  at  Fairfax,  they  were  both 
overtaken  by  the  enemy,  and  were  “  furnished  transportation  ” 
to  Richmond.  After  intense  suffering,  Mr.  Reed  died  October 
23,  1861,  in  Libby  Prison. 

Capt.  J.  F.  Randolph  was  also  sick  and  in  hospital,  and 
had  been  for  some  time,  but  when  the  forward  movement 
was  made,  he  came  forward  and  resumed  command  of  the  com¬ 
pany,  and  remained  in  command  until  he  was  wounded,  July 
21,  1861. 

The  history  of  the  war,  for  the  year  1862,  will  he  continued 
in  the  next  chapter. 

The  National  Anniversary  was  celebrated  this  year  with, 
more  than  usual  interest.  The  procession  was  formed  of  five 
divisions,  the  whole  under  direction  of  Wi.  T.  Leitch,  Grand 
Marshal.  The  first  division  was  composed  of  the  Dane  Cavalry,, 
under  charge  of  Lieut.  Timothy  Brown,  the  governor  and 
State  officers,  soldiers  of  the  war  of  1812,  with  the  venerable 
Nathaniel  Ames,  the  only  revolutionary  soldier  living  in  the 
state,  born  April  25,  1761,  and  who  was  consequently  over  one 
hundred  years  of  age;  a  triumphal  car  of  thirty-four  young 
ladies  under  charge  of  Herbert  Reed,  carrying  the  National 
Flag  representing  the  States  of  the  Union,  escorted  by  the 
Governor’s  Guards,  Lieut.  Fuller;  the  judges  of  the  various- 
courts,  Dane  county  officers,  the  mayor  and  common  council,, 
the  chancellor,  faculty  and  students  of  the  State  University,, 
and  the  Board  of  Education.  The  second  division,  G.  P.  Dela- 
plaine,  Marshal,  was  composed  of  the  State  Artillery,  Capt. 
McFarland;  the  Fifth  regiment  of  Wisconsin  Volunteers, 
Col.  Amasa  Cobb;  the  Sixth  regiment,  Col.  Lysander  Cutler. 
The  third  division,  S.  G.  Benedict,  Marshal,  with  the  Fire 
Department  of  the  City  of  Madison.  The  fourth  division,  the 
military  companies  from  Dane  county,  the  Turn  Verein  Asso¬ 
ciation,  and  citizens  of  Dane  county;  and  the  fifth  division,. 
Philander  French  of  Fitchburg,  Marshal,  with  a  grand. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


283 


cavalcade  of  farmers.  The  officers  of  the  day  were,  Hon.  J.  C. 
Fairchild,  President;  Vice  Presidents,  five  from  the  city  of 
Madison,  and  one  from  each  town  in  Dane  county  ;  Hon. 
Byron  Paine,  Orator;  D.  McFarland,  Reader;  Rev.  W.  L. 
Green,  Chaplain;  J.  H.  McFarland,  Chief  Gunner.  The 
exercises  at  the  stand  were  very  interesting.  Judge  Paine’s. 
address  was  a  thoughtful  and  philosophical  production,  clear 
and  vigorous  in  style,  and  delivered  without  the  aid  of  notes  — 
the  fine  voice  and  elocution  of  the  speaker  giving  it  additional 
effect. 

The  State  Journal ,  in  an  article  published  in  the  month  of 
December,  says:  “The  year  1861  has  been  an  eventful  oner 
but  with  all  the  trials  and  hard  times,  of  which  people  have 
justly  complained  in  other  parts  of  the  country,  Madison  has 
been  exempt.  The  business  has  been  prosperous,  and  the 
improvements  of  the  ttown  have  been  considerable  and  sub¬ 
stantial,  showing  a  healthy  financial  condition  of  our  citizens. 
Among  the  improvements  that  have  been  made  during  the 
year,  are:  the  western  wing  of  the  State  Capitol,  which  has 
been  put  under  contract  in  accordance  with  act  of  the  Legis¬ 
lature,  approved  March  9,  and  the  work  of  building  so  far  com¬ 
pleted  as  to  render  its  completion  during  the  next  summer  an 
easy  matter.  A  wing  nearly  doubling  the  capacity  of  the 
Insane  Hospital,  has  been  so  nearly  finished  that  it  will  be 
opened  for  patients  next  spring.  These  undertakings  are  of  a 
public  character,  and  have  been  prosecuted  with  commendable 
enterprise.  To  the  business  buildings  there  has  been  erected 
the  block  of  S.  Klauber&Co.,  on  Pinckney  street,  adding  four 
noble  stores.  G.  W.  Gilman  has  put  up  a  fine  building  adjoin¬ 
ing,  eighty-five  feet  deep.  Church  &  Hawley  have  lately 
extended  their  manufacturing  facilities,  adding  steam  works, 
and  various  modern  improvements  in  machinery.  A.  G.  Dar¬ 
win  has  added  to  the  hotel  facilities  a  commodious  house  near 
the  depot  of  the  Milwaukee  Railroad.  This  building  is  thirty- 
two  feet,  fronting  the  railroad  track,  and  fifty-four  feet  deep, 
two  story  high  with  a  longitudinal  wing  east  of  the  same, 
fifty-five  feet  on  the  track,  and  thirty  feet  wide,  with  a  veran- 


284 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


dah  on  the  south  and  east  sides.  Mr.  J.  C.  Schette  erected  a 
large  iron  foundry  during  the  summer,  which,  in  the  fall,  was 
coverted  into  a  flouring  mill.  Among  the  residences,  are  those 
of  C.  L.  Williams,  Esq.,  corner  of  Dayton  and  Hamilton  streets; 
J.  W.  Harvey,  on  Johnson  stieet;  Truman  E.  Bird,  on  Pinck¬ 
ney  street;  A.  C.  Davis,  corner  of  Johnson  and  Pinckney  streets; 
G.  A.  Mason,  on  Johnson  street;  Mr.  Walker,  a  stone  building, 
in  form  resembling  a  castle,  on  Johnson  street;  A.  Sherwun, 
Esq.,  on  Gorham  street;  Thaddeus  Dean,  Esq.,  on  Wisconsin 
Avenue.” 

Prince  Napoleon  passed  through  the  city  August  31st,  on 
his  way  to  St.  Paul.  He  and  his  suit  were  locked  up  in  one  of 
the  cars.  There  was  a  large  crowd  anxious  to  see  him,  chiefly 
on  account  of  the  resemblance  his  features  have  to  those  of  his 
celebrated  deceased  kinsman.  The  daughter  of  Victor  Emman¬ 
uel,  his  beautiful  young  wife,  was  not  seen.  As  the  train 
moved  on,  the  crowd  gave  him  a  hearty  cheer. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


285 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Rebellion  History  —  Death  of  Gov.  Harvey  —  Elections,  1862-69 
—  Public  Schools,  1862-69  —  Old  Capitol  Demolished  and 
South  Wing  Built  —  State  Historical  Society  History  — 
Death  of  Nathaniel  Ames  —  Steam  Navigation  — Business 
Statistics,  1865-68 — History  of  Governor’s  Guards  —  Arte¬ 
sian  Well  —  National  Anniversaries,  1867-70  —  United  States 
Court  House  —  Public  and  Private  Improvements. 

The  administration  of  Gov.  Randall  and  other  State  offi¬ 
cers,  terminated  at  noon,  January  6,  1862,  at  which  time 
Hon.  Louis  P.  Harvey,  late  Secretary  of  State,  took  the  oath 
of  office  and  assumed  the  Executive  chair.  Soon  after  the  bat¬ 
tle  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  on  the  7th  of  April,  the  certainty 
that  some  of  the  Wisconsin  regiments  had  suffered  severely,  in¬ 
duced  the  Governor  to  organize  an  expedition  for  the  relief  of 
the  wounded  and  suffering  soldiers.  In  less  than  twenty-four 
hours,  supplies  were  gathered,  and  on  the  10th  the  party  started 
on  their  benevolent  object.  On  their  arrival  at  Chicago,  they 
found  ninety  boxes  of  supplies,  etc.,  furnished,  which  were  for¬ 
warded,  to  accompany  the  party.  Of  this  large  number,  sixty- 
one  were  from  Milwaukee,  thirteen  from  Madison,  six  from 
Beloit,  and  the  remainder  from  various  parts  of  the  State.  On 
their  arrival  at  Mound  City,  they  administered  to  the  wants  of 
some  thirty  soldiers,  and  also  at  Paducah  and  Savannah,  where 
the  presence  of  the  Governor  and  the  benefactions  of  Wiscon¬ 
sin  friends  did  much  to  alleviate  the  sufferings  of  the  sick  and 
wounded.  After  the  party  had  nearly  completed  their  labors, 
they  took  the  boat  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  on  the  19th,  for 
Cairo.  Here,  a  disaster  occurred  which  brought  sorrow  to 
many  hearts,  and  the  loss  to  Wisconsin  of  its  patriotic  Gov¬ 
ernor.  Passing  from  one  boat  to  the  other  (the  night  being 
dark  and  rainy),  Gov.  Harvey  made  a  misstep,  and  fell  over¬ 
board  between  the  two  steamers.  Every  assistance  was  ren- 


286 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


dered  that  was  possible,  but  without  avail.  His  body,  which 
had  drifted  a  great  distance  down  the  river,  was  subsequently 
recovered  and  identified  by  his  watch  and  some  other  property 
on  his  person,  and  was  brought  to  Madison.  This  sad  event 
made  a  deep  impression  on  the  public  mind.  Appropriate 
commemorative  services  were  held  at  the  Assembly  Hall,  and 
addresses  delivered  by  Gov.  E.  Salomon,  President  A.  L.  Chapin 
of  Beloit  College,  and  others.  The  funeral  services  took  place 
on  the  7th  of  May,  and  the  remains  were  taken  to  Forest  Hill 
Cemetery,  followed  by  a  large  procession,  where  they  are  de¬ 
posited. 

The  Second  Regiment,  which  had  been  identified  with  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  from  its  organization  to  this  time,  and 
which  was  the  representative  of  Wisconsin  at  the  first  battle 
of  Bull  Run,  was  about  the  1st  of  October  united  with  the 
Sixth  and  Seventh  Regiments.  In  the  re-organization  of  the 
army  under  Gen.  McClellan,  these  regiments,  together  with 
the  Ninth  Indiana,  were  organized  as  a  brigade,  and  assigned  to 
the  command  of  Brig.  Gen.  Gibbon.  Thenceforth  their  his¬ 
tory  is  identical,  and  the  State  of  Wisconsin  may  well  be  proud 
of  their  record,  which  has  procured  for  them  the  name  of  the 
“  Iron  Brigade.”  As  before  stated,  the  city  of  Madison  and 
Dane  county  were  largely  represented  in  these  regiments. 

President  Lincoln’s  proclamation  for  300,000  additional 
troops  was  made  July  1,  and  five  regiments  were  required  of 
the  State  of  Wisconsin.  In  consequence  of  this,  the  Governor 
called  out  regiments  21  to  25,  inclusive,  to  prepare  for  service. 
The  Twenty-third  Regiment  was  composed,  in  part,  of  Dane 
county  men,  and  we  find  the  following  officers  as  being  from 
Madison:  W.  G.  Pitman,  Adjutant.  Company  A,  William  F. 
Vilas,  Captain,  and  Sinclair  W.  Botkin,  First  Lieutenant. 
Company  D,  Jos.  E.  Green,  Captain,  J.  W.  Tolford,  First 
Lieutenant,  and  F.  A.  Stoltze,  Second  Lieutenant.  Company 
E,  Jas.  M.  Bull,  Captain,  Henry  Vilas,  Second  Lieutenant. 
Company  I,  A.  R.  Jones,  Captain,  J.  M.  Sumner,  Second  Lieu¬ 
tenant. 

The  casualities  occurring  in  the  service  this  year,  as  far  as  re- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


287 


lates  to  this  section,  are  here  given.  The  names  of  privates 
cannot  be  furnished,  as  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain  their  loca¬ 
tion  or  place  of  residence.  At  the  battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing, 
April  5  (Shiloh),  Lt.  Col.  Cassius  Fairchild,  of  the  Sixteenth 
Regiment,  was  severely  wounded  in  the  thigh. 

Col.  Chas.  L.  Harris  of  the  11th  Wisconsin,  was  wounded 
in  the  arm  and  leg,  at  the  battle  of  Bayou  Couche,  in  which 
•  engagement  four  were  killed  and  forty-one  wounded. 

At  the  battle  of  Cedar  Mountains  (Antietam),  on  the  9th  of 
August,  Capt.  Wm.  Hawley  of  Company  K,  of  the  Third  Reg¬ 
iment,  was  wounded  in  the  ankle,  and  Lieut.  T.  J.  Widvey  of 
the  same  company,  was  taken  prisoner.  This  company  went 
into  action  with  44  men,  and  lost,  in  killed  and  wounded,  18. 
On  the  1st  of  November  following,  Capt.  Hawley  was  pro¬ 
moted  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  the  same  regiment. 

Maj.  J.  W.  Jefferson  of  the  Eighth  Regiment,  was  wounded 
..at  the  second  battle  of  Corinth,  October  3. 

In  the  three  days’  fight  of  the  28th  to  30th  of  August,  at 
Gainesville  and  Bull  Run,  the  Iron  Brigade  suffered  severely. 
The  Second  Regiment  went  into  the  fight  with  430  men,  and 
lost,  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing,  286.  Capt.  Julius  F. 
Randolph  of  Company  H,  a  well  known  and  highly  respected 
young  man  of  Madison,  was  killed,  with  twelve  of  his  com¬ 
pany,  and  twenty-three  wounded.  On  the  day  succeeding  the 
battle,  Lt.  Col.  Lucius  Fairchild  was  promoted  Colonel. 

At  the  spring  election  in  April,  L.  B.  Vilas  was  the  Union 
candidate  for  Mayor,  and  Wm.  T.  Leitch  the  Democratic 
candidate;  1,359  votes  were  polled,  of  which  the  former  re¬ 
ceived  619  votes  and  the  latter  740,  being  elected  by  121  ma¬ 
jority.  Calvin.  Ainsworth  was  elected  Police  Justice  and  F. 
B.  Huchting,  Treasurer.  The  following  aldermen  were  also 
elected:  1st  ward,  E.  B.  Dean,  Jr.,  and  G.  Grimm;  2d  ward,  T. 
E.  Bird  and  A.  C.  Davis;  3d  ward,  C.  W.  Heyl  and  W.  M. 
Rasdall;  4th  ward,  C.  H.  Luce  and  E.  Kavanaugh. 

The  National  anniversary  was  observed  in  the  usual  manner. 
Hon.  G.  B.  Smith,  President;  T.  E.  Bird,  Marshal;  W.  F. 
Vilas,  Reader;  Rev.  W.  L.  Green,  Chaplain;  J.  H.  Lathrop, 


288 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  ARD  THE 


Orator.  A  fine  display  of  fireworks  in  the  evening,  closed  the 
celebration. 

Prof.  Chas.  H.  x\llen,  Superintendent  of  City  Schools,  in 
his  report  for  the  year,  states  that  there  were  at  the  last  enu¬ 
meration,  2,380  children  in  the  city  between  the  ages  of  four 
and  twenty  years — that  the  whole  number  registered  in  the 
public  schools  for  the  term  commencing  September,  1862,  was 
656,  and  the  average  daily  attendance  423.  The  superinten¬ 
dent  makes  a  strong  appeal  for  more  and  better  school  accomo¬ 
dations. 

The  improvements  in  the  city  were  not  as  large  this  year  as 
some  others.  Among  them  was  the  enlargement  of  Fair- 
child’s  block  on  Pinckney  and  Main  streets,  Bemis  and  Boud- 
ler’s  meat  market,  N.  W.  Dean’s  block  on  State  and  Pinck¬ 
ney  streets,  and  the  Norwegian  Lutheran  church,  corner  of 
Hamilton  and  Butler  streets. 

The  Regents  of  the  State  University  this  year,  established  a 
Normal  Department,  and  Prof.  Charles  H.  Allen,  was  ap¬ 
pointed  Principal.  The  department  was  opened  on  the  16th 
of  March  for  the  accomodation  of  students  of  either  sex, 
seeking  to  educate  themselves  for  the  vocation  of  teaching. 
The  entire  south  building  was  set  apart  for  a  boarding  houser 
dormitories  and  other  rooms  necessary  for  the  department  un¬ 
der  the  special  charge  of  the  Professor,  aided  by  a  preceptress. 
The  number  of  pupils  enrolled  at  the  fall  term  was  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  sixty-two. 

On  the  16th  of  March,  1862,  the  Vestry  of  Grace  Church  ex¬ 
tended  a  call  to  the  Rev.  Jas.  L.  Maxwell,  of  Bordentown,  N. 
J.,  which  was  accepted,  and  May  18,  he  entered  upon  his  work 
as  rector.  During  his  ministry  a  fine  organ  was  added  by  the 
liberality  of  the  congregation,  at  an  expense  of  some  $2,500, 
and  gave  its  first  tones  to  a  public  congregation  on  the  evening 
of  Easter  Monday,  April  22, 1867. 

A  northern  climate  being  too  vigorous  for  the  health  of  his 
wife,  Mr.  Maxwell  sent  in  his  resignation  May  1,  1867,  and 
removed  to  New  Jersey. 

On  the  17th  of  March,  1863,  the  old  Madison  Hotel,  built  in 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


289 


1837-8,  was  destroyed  by  fire.  A  history  of  this,  one  of  the 
oldest  landmarks  of  the  city,  has  already  been  given  in  the 
early  history  of  the  town. 

The  annual  election  for  city  officers  took  place  the  7th  of 
April.  For  Mayor  Wm.  T.  Leitch  received  774  votes,  and  Gen.- 
Wm.  W.  Teedway,  519.  The  former  was  elected  by  a  major¬ 
ity  of  255.  For  the  office  of  Treasurer,  C.  W.  Heyl  received 
received  501  votes,  Kyron  Tierney  461,  and  T.  C.  Bourke,. 
329;  the  former  was  elected,  and  also  the  following  aldermen: 
1st  ward,  J.  Zehxpening,  John  Monaghan;  2d  ward,  J.  H. 
Carpenter  and  H.  M.  Lewis;  3d  ward,  Jas.  Ross  and  J.  T. 
Stevens;  4th  ward,  Jos.  Hobbins  and  H.  N.  Moulton. 

An  act  of  the  legislature  was  passed  and  approved  March 
26,  1863,  providing  for  continuing  the  work  on  the  State 
Capitol,  by  which  the  Board  of  Building  Commissioners 
were  authorized  to  let  to  the  lowest  responsible  bidder,  the 
contract  for  the  building  and  erection  of  the  foundations 
of  the  South  wing  and  of  the  rotunda  and  the  erection 
and  completion  of  the  North  wing;  all  of  which  was  to 
be  completed  by  December  31,  1863,  the  expense  not  to  ex¬ 
ceed  the  sum  of  $63,000.  On  the  9th  of  May  the  bids  were 
opened,  and  the  contract  awarded  to  James  Livesey  for  $50,855 
as  the  lowest  bidder.  The  work  of  demolishing  the  old  Capitol 
building  was  soon  commenced.  On  the  20th  of  May  the  State 
Journal  says:  “Heavy  weights  of  lead  were  found  in  the  win¬ 
dow  frames,  which  in  the  aggregate  were  worth  $300.  Lead 
was  used  in  the  early  time  as  it  was  cheaper  than  iron.  The 
building  was  a  somewhat u  imposing  ”  specimen  of  architecture, 
and  the  imposition  became  the  more  apparent  as  the  new  cap- 
itol  building  began  to  rise  around  and  above  it.  It  was  the 
scene  of  many  interesting  incidents,  some  of  them  historical, 
but  the  greater  part  should  rest  under  the  mantle  of  forgetful¬ 
ness.  It  was  in  this  building  that  were  held  the  first  Legisla¬ 
tures  after  the  separate  organization  of  Wisconsin  as  a  Terri¬ 
tory  —  here  were  held  the  first  political  conventions  —  here  the 
two  constitutional  conventions  assembled  —  here  Vineyard 
shot  Arndt,  and  here  he  was  indicted  —  here  the  Dodge  and 


290  HISTORY  OF  31  ADIS  ON  AND  THE 

.Doty  controversies  were  figured  and  worked  out  —  here  was 
^enacted  the  legislation  which  has  made  some  and  unmade  oth¬ 
ers.  The  old  building  has  witnessed  many  changes,  has  stood 
through  good  and  much  evil  report,  and  finally  passes  away,  to 
the  gratification  of  the  people  of  Madison,  who  now  consider 
■the  “  Capitol  question  ”  settled.” 

u  The  work  of  building  in  the  city  progressed  usually  well 
this  spring.  A  large  number  of  dwellings  and  business  blocks 
3,re  already  considerably  advanced,  and  many  others  will  soon 
he  commenced.  Among  the  fine  residences  now  in  process 
r)f  erection,  are  those  of  Hon.  Benj.  F.  Hopkins  on  Lake 
Mendota,  Timothy  Brown,  Esq.,  and  D.  K.  Tenney.  Gen. 
Simeon  Mills,  on  his  farm  east  of  the  city,  is  building  an  ele¬ 
gant  country  residence.  A  large  number  of  other  buildings, 
nnd  additions  to  old  ones,  are  being  constructed.  M.  D.  Mil¬ 
ler’s  block,  corner  of  Carroll  and  Main  streets,  is  going  on 
finely,  and  a  new  block  is  to  be  built  between  the  Fox  Block 
{now  occupied  by  Vroman  &  Frank)  and  the  building  now 
aised  for  the  Post  Office.”  The  “  Turners’  Hall  ”  was  also  built. 

On  the  27th  of  May,  Mrs.  Magd aline  Stoner,  wife  of  Mr. 
John  Stoner,  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  the  city,  died,  aged 
71  years  and  5  months.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stoner  came  here  the 
<6th  of  September,  1837.  He  built  his  cabin  near  Lake  Men- 
Jota,  on  the  low  lands  near  the  ridge,  and  resided  in  that  neigh¬ 
borhood  till  his  death.  Mrs.  Stoner  was  the  mother  of  four 
daughters  and  of  a  son,  who  is  the  first  male  child  born  of 
white  parents  within  the  bounds  of  the  city  —  J.  Madison 
Stoner,  now  a  resident  of  Colorado.  The  daughters  grew  up 
to  womanhood,  but  soon  after  died  of  consumption.  The  old¬ 
est  son,  Geo.  W.  Stoner,  is  still  a  resident  of  Madison.  Mrs. 
Stoner  was  an  estimable  lady,  and  was  highly  respected  by 
every  one. 

There  was  no  formal  celebration  on  the  4th  of  July,  this 
year.  The  Governor,  however,  directed  the  State  Armorer, 
Capt.  McFarland,  to  fire  salutes  at  sun  rise  and  sun  set. 
There  was  a  much  larger  number  of  persons  in  the  city  than 
was  anticipated  under  the  circumstances. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


291 


On  the  27th  of  August,  Nathaniel  Ames,  the  sole  surviv¬ 
ing  revolutionary  soldier  of  the  Northwest,  departed  this  life, 
at  his  residence  at  Oregon,  (12  miles  south  of  Madison,)  aged 
102  years,  4  months  and  2  days.  The  chief  incidents  of  the 
deceased  veteran’s  life  are  familiar  to  the  residents  of  Dane 
county,  as  they  have  frequently  been  referred  to  on  the  4th  of 
July  and  other  national  occasions,  in  which  the  veteran,  not¬ 
withstanding  his  great  age  and  accompanying  infirmities,  was 
always  pleased  and  willing  to  participate.  We  have  seen  his 
pension  paper,  dated  in  1833,  signed  by  Lewis  Cass,  which  cer¬ 
tified  that  he  was  entitled  to  draw  a  pension  for  his  services  as 
a  private  in  the  revolutionary  army.  He  witnessed  the  execu¬ 
tion  of  Andre,  and  was  present  at  other  historic  events  of  the 
revolutionary  war. 

He  has  been  for  sixty-five  years  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
fraternity,  and  his  body  was  buried  by  them,  at  Rome  Corners, 
on  Sunday,  the  30th  inst.,  at  11  o’clock  in  the  morning.  Dele¬ 
gations  from  the  lodges  of  this  city,  and  from  those  of  adjacent 
places,  were  present  at  the  obsequies  of  this  last  revolutionary 
soldier  in  the  Northwest. 

The  Madison  Mutual  Insurance  Company  commenced  break¬ 
ing  ground  for  the  erection  of  their  new  building  on  Mifflin 
street,  near  the  corner  of  Pinckney  street,  on  the  15th  of  Au¬ 
gust.  It  is  to  be  24  feet  front  by  60  feet  deep.  , 

An  act  of  the  Legislature,  approved  April  2,  1863,  incorpo¬ 
rated  the  u  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  Building  Association,” 
and  a  meeting  was  held  on  the  22d  of  August,  to  raise,  by  sub¬ 
scription,  150,000  for  the  erection  of  a  new  church  edifice.  An 
agent  was  appointed  to  visit  the  different  portions  of  the  State 
to  secure  assistance  for  this  object. 

From  the  report  of  the  Board  of  Education  for  the  year  end¬ 
ing  December,  1863,  it  appears  that  the  total  valuation  of 
school  property  in  the  city,  including  buildings,  furniture  and 
grounds,  was  $26,791.62.  The  number  of  seats  in  all  the  pub¬ 
lic  school  buildings  was  709,  while  the  number  of  pupils  en¬ 
rolled  for  the  fall  term  of  1863  was  826.  It  is  intended  by  the 
Board,  if  possible,  to  erect  a  new  building  in  the  Fourth  Ward, 


292 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


which  will  increase  the  number  of  seats  to  about  1,000.  The 
census  of  school  children,  as  taken  this  year,  makes  the  whole 
number  between  the  ages  of  four  and  twenty,  2,417,  of  which 
number  1,150  are  males,  and  1,267  females. 

The  High  School,  which  had  been  closed  for  nearly  two 
years  on  account  of  financial  difficulties,  was  this  year  re¬ 
opened  with  55  pupils. 

The  “First  National  Bank”  was  organized  December  15, 
1863,  with  L.  B.  Vilas,  S.  D.  Hastings,  N.  B.  Van  Slyke, 
Geoege  A.  Mason  and  Timothy  Beown  as  first  Board  of  Di¬ 
rectors. 

We  find  the  following  casualties  among  the  officers  of  Wis¬ 
consin  volunteers,  from  Madison  and  vicinity,  during  the  year: 

At  [the  battle  of  Black  River  Bridge,  May  17,  Daniel  EL 
Hough,  Captain  of  Company  A,  Eleventh  Regiment,  was  mor¬ 
tally  wounded,  and  died  at  the  hospital  June  3.  At  the  battle 
of  Gettysburg,  July  1,  Lucius  Faikchild,*  Colonel  of  Second 
Regiment,  was  wounded  in  the  left  arm,  and  suffered  amputa¬ 
tion;  and  Capt.  Nat.  Rollins,  of  Company  H,  same  regiment, 
was  taken  prisoner  and  sent  to  Libby  Prison,  where  he  was  de¬ 
tained  until  December  10,  1864,  when  he  was  exchanged.  In 

*  Hon.  Lucius  Fairchild,  a  son  of  Col.  Jairus  C.  Fairchild,  was  born  in 
the  town  of  Kent,  Portage  county,  Ohio,  Dec.  27,  1830;  received  a  com¬ 
mon  school  education;  is  by  profession  an  attorney.  He  came  to  Wiscon¬ 
sin,  in  1846,  with  his  parents,  and  settled  at  Madison.  In  1849,  he  made 
an  overland  trip  to  California,  and  remained  there  until  1855,  when 
he  returned  to  Madison.  Was  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court  for  Dane 
county  in  1859  and  i860;  in  1861,  entered  the  military  service  with  the 
First  Wisconsin  Volunteers,  and  was  commissioned  successively  Captain, 
Major,  Lieutenant  Colonel,  and  Brigadier  of  Volunteers,  and  Captain  in 
the  Sixteenth  Regiment,  United  States  Regular  Army.  At  the  battle  of 
Gettysburg,  where  he  commanded  the  Second  Wisconsin  Regiment,  of 
the  “  Iron  Brigade,”  he  lost  an  arm,  and,  while  recruiting  his  health* 
received  and  accepted  the  Republican  nomination  for  Secretary  of  State, 
to  which  position  he  was  elected  in  1863;  in  1865,  was  elected  Governor, 
and  was  re-elected  in  1867  and  1869,  serving  six  years  in  that  capacity, 
since  which  time,  he  has  been  appointed  by  the  President,  United  States 
Consul  at  Liverpool,  Eng.,  and  is,  at  this  date,  filling  that  office  with  dis¬ 
tinguished  ability. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


293 


the  State  Journal ,  of  May  12,  he  publishes  a  chapter  of  his 
personal  experiences  in  prison. 

At  Whitewater  bridge,  in  the  vicinity  of  Cape  Girardeau, 
April  24,  Capt.  S.  V.  Shipman  of  the  First  Cavalry,  with  forty 
men  of  his  company,  were  surrounded  by  rebels,  and  had  either 
to  surrender  or  charge  through  a  force  of  three  hundred.  They 
decided  on  the  latter,  and  started.  A  deadly  fire  was  opened  on 
them  as  they  advanced,  from  the  front,  but  the  sabres  made 
such  havoc  among  them  that  the  breach  was  rapidly  widened, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  the  company  had  cut  their  way  through, 
and  were  on  their  way  to  the  Cape.  When  nearly  through  the 
broken  rebel  ranks,  Capt.  Shipman’s  bridle  rein  was  cut  by  a 
bullet,  and  his  horse  became  unmanageable,  when  the  crowd 
that  had  before  given  way,  closed  around  him;  and  striking  right 
and  left,  fighting  with  both  sabre  and  pistol,  he  fell  at  last  with  a 
dangerous  wound.  Besides  the  band  of  rebels  through  whom 
they  charged,  with  hundreds  firing  at  them,  they  were  really 
surrounded  by  3,000,  who  had  four  pieces  of  artillery  and  3,000 
more  troops  at  some  distance.  Capt.  Shipman’s  wound,  at  first 
.considered  fatal,  proved  very  severe,  sixty  pieces  of  bone  being 
taken  from  it  at  one  time,  and  at  last,  after  months  of  suffering, 
left  him  a  cripple  for  life. 

Capt.  Shipman  was  subsequently  promoted  Colonel.  His 
€harge  on  the  rebels,  says  Mr.  Love,  in  his  u  Wisconsin  in  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion,”  “  Will  take  rank  among  the  most  dar¬ 
ing  and  grand  exploits  of  the  war.” 

An  act  of  the  Legislature,  approved  April  12,  1864,  author¬ 
ized  the  Building  Commissioners  of  the  State  Capitol  to 
let  the  contract  for  the  completion  of  the  south  wing,  and  for 
the  center  part  and  rotunda  to  the  top  of  the  roof  of  the  east 
and  west  wings,  to  be  completed  before  December  31,  and  the 
sum  of  $60,000  was  appropriated  for  that  purpose.  Proposals 
were  received,  and  the  lowest  bidder  was  W.  T.  Fish,  for 
$42,000.  Section  9  of  the  same  act  which  authorized  the  work 
to  be  completed,  provides  that  the  commissioners  shall  not  let 
the  contract  for  a  larger  sum  than  $35,000.  In  consequence  of 
which,  Mr.  Fish’s  bid  was  declined  and  the  contract  was  given 


294  HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 

Wm.  Goodenow  of  Milwaukee,  for  $35,000,  who  agreed  to  look 
to  the  next  Legislature  for  an  appropriation  to  cover  deficiencies- 
The  work  was  immediately  begun  and  completed  by  the  time 
specified. 

In  the  month  of  April,  Rev.  Lewis  E.  Matson  of  Racine* 
was  called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  Congregational  church,  where 
he  preached  to  the  great  acceptance  of  the  church,  until  the 
summer  of  1866,  when  he  resigned  to  accept  a  call  of  the  Ply¬ 
mouth  church  of  Chicago.  After  a  season  of  brief  but  ardu¬ 
ous  and  successful  labor  there,  he  was  smitten  by  disease  and 
died  at  Lyons,  France,  June  21, 1868. 

The  city  election  took  place  April  5.  The  candidates  for 
Mayor  were  Wm.  T.  Leitch*  and  J.  H.  Carpenter.  The 
former  received  602  votes,  and  the  latter  573,  Mr.  Leitch  being 
elected  by  29  majority. 

For  Treasurer,  Tnos.  C.  Boltrke  received  514,  and  C.  W- 
Heyl  624  votes  —  the  latter  elected  by  110  majority.  For  Po¬ 
lice  Justice,  there  were  three  candidates,  James  T.  Flower* 
who  received  536  votes;  Geo.  E.  Woodward,  172  votes,  and 
John  R.  Baltzell,  459.  Mr.  Flower  was  elected,  also  the 
following  Aldermen:  1st  ward,  Andrew  Wald  and  E.  Sprague; 
2d  ward,  H.  M.  Lewis  and  Tim.  Brown;  3d  ward,  K.  Tierney 
and  Ernest  Dcerschlag;  4th  ward,  J.  M.  Dickinson  and  Geo- 
D.  Lincoln. 

Wm.  A.  Hayes  was  elected  Clerk,  and  John  Reynolds,  As¬ 
sessor.  The  assessed  valuation  of  city  property,  as  reported  by 
the  latter  officer,  was,  real  estate,  $1,515,160;  personal  prop- 

*William  T.  Leitch  is  a  son  of  James  Leitch,  manufacturer  of  Edinburgh,. 
Scotland,  and  was  born  October  18,  1808.  He  was  educated  at  that  place 
and  remained  there  until  April,  1829.  Arrived  in  the  United  States  Mayr 
1829,  and  settled  in  the  city  of  New  York,  where  he  resided  nearly  all  the 
time  until  June,  1858,  when  he  removed  to  Madison.  While  in  New  York 
he  was  engaged  in  a  large  and  successful  business  in  the  wholesale  south¬ 
ern  clothing  trade,  until  the  commencement  of  the  late  war. 

He  has  held  the  office  of  Mayor  for  three  terms,  1862,  63,  64;  was  twelve 
years  President  of  the  Madison  Horticultural  Society,  and  ten  years  ves¬ 
tryman  of  Grace  Church,  and  has  held  other  offices. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


29J 


erty,  $550,555.50;  total,  $2,065,715.50.  The  amount  of  the' 
tax  levy  was  $53,575.36. 

The  Second  Regiment  of  Wisconsin  Volunteers  returned* 
after  their  three  years1  enlistment,  on  the  18th  of  June.  Thejr 
were  received  with  great  demonstrations  by  citizens  of  Madison** 
and  large  numbers  from  the  country. 

There  was  no  formal  celebration  on  the  national  anniversary. 
Salutes  were  given  at  sun  rise  and  sun  set  by  the  State  authori¬ 
ties.  The  newspapers  of  the  5th  gave  as  a  reason  for  the  quiet- 
of  the  day,  that  the  people  of  the  city  and  country  but  re¬ 
cently  had  a  celebration  at  the  reception  of  the  Second  Regi¬ 
ment,  and  did  not  feel  inclined  to  have  another  so  soon.  A 
celebration  was  held  at  Mazomanie,  in  which  some  of  the 
prominent  men  of  this  city  participated.  At  Camp  Randall** 
the  “Veteran  Reserve  Corps,”  which  was  then  in  camp,  had* 
an  impromptu  celebration  in  a  quiet  way.  A  table  was  spread 
in  a  grove,  and  a  good  dinner  provided.  Volunteer  toasts  and 
speeches  were  made.  A  correspondent  of  the  Journal  takes 
the  people  of  Madison  to  task  for  their  want  of  patriotism,  etc. 

Capt.  Francis  Barnes,  this  year,  introduced  on  Lake  Mo¬ 
nona  the  “  Scutanawbequon,”  brought  here  from  Lake  Kosli- 
konong.  It  was  28  feet  in  length,  11  feet  wide,  and  drew  18- 
inches  of  water;  four  horse  power  engine,  and  makes  about 
seven  miles  per  hour.  Its  introduction  was  a  great  success*, 
and  was  the  pioneer  of  the  steam  pleasure  boats  on  the  lake.* 

The  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railroad,  this  year,  com¬ 
pleted  their  road  to  this  place  via  Beloit,  giving  the  city  a  di-' 
rect  communication  to  Chicago  without  going  to  Milwaukee. 

The  business  of  Madison,  this  year,  was  promising,  and  » 
number  of  desirable  improvements  made.  W.  J.  Su  lei  van5 
built  a  block  west  of  the  Baptist  Church,  to  the  corner  of 
Washington  avenue.  The  former  residence  of  Gov.  Far  well* 
on  Lake  Monona,  was  purchased  for  a  hospital  for  soldiers,  and 

*  It  is  proper  to  state  that  I.  E.  Brown  had  a  small  steamer  occasionally* 
on  Lake  Mendota  and  Lake  Monona,  sofne  years  before.  It  was  small  irs 
size,  and  did  not  pay  for  running  it.  Mr.  Griffin,  of  the  Lake  Side  House,*, 
also  had  a  boat  running  to  accommodate  the  guests. 


296 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


large  additions  made  to  it.  It  was  subsequently  used  as  a 
Home  for  Soldiers’  Orphans,  and  supported  by  State  aid. 

The  German  Methodist  Church,  on  the  corner  of  Mifflin  and 
Webster  streets,  was  built  —  a  handsome  brick  edifice.  Gen. 
L.  Fairchild  erected  a  store  on  Main  street,  near  the  Capital 
House,  twenty  by  sixty-six  feet,  forty  feet  high,  and  three  sto¬ 
ries.  A.  Kentzler  built  his  large  brick  stable. 

The  following  casualities  occured  in  the  government  service 
in  1864,  as  far  as  relates  to  Madison:  F.  A.  Haskell,  Colonel 
of  the  36th  Regiment,  at  the  battle  of  Cold  Harbor,  Va.,  June 
-3d,  was  struck  by  a  rebel  bullet  in  the  head  and  was  instantly 
killed.  His  loss  was  deeply  felt  by  the  men  under  his  com¬ 
mand,  and  a  host  of  friends  in  Wisconsin;  with  the  Iron  Bri¬ 
gade  he  had  faced  the  fire  at  Gainesville,  Antietam,  Gettys¬ 
burg  and  other  battles  in  which  the  brigade  participated.  In 
the  same  engagement,  Adjutant  B.  D.  Atwell,  of  the  same  reg¬ 
iment  was  wounded,  and  at  the  battle  at  Reams’  Station,  Va., 
August  25,  he  was  missing  in  the  action,  and  was  subsequently 
a  paroled  prisoner  of  war.  Lt.  Geo.  E.  Albee,  of  Co.  F,  was 
also  missing  at  the  same  battle,  and  was  also  paroled  prisoner 
of  war.  C.  E.  Warxer,  of  Windsor,  Dane  county,  Captain 
of  Co.  B.,  same  regiment,  was  promoted  after  the  battle  of  Cold 
Harbor,  to  the  rank  of  Major  and  Lt.  Colonel,  and  was  wounded 
in  action  at  Deep  Bottom,  Va.,  August  14,  which  shattered 
his  left  arm,  rendering  amputation  necessary.  Wm.  P.  At¬ 
well,  1st  Lieutenant  of  Co.  G.,  37th  regiment  at  the  assault  on 
the  mined  Fort  at  Petersburg,  Va.,  was  so  severely  wounded 
that  amputation  of  the  leg  was  necessary. 

At  the  battle  of  Bald  Hill,  near  Atlanta,  July  21, 1864,  Lieut. 
Col.  Thos.  Reynolds,  of  the  16th  regiment,  was  shot  while 
passing  over  cartridges,  by  a  rebel  sharp  shooter  secreted  to  the 
right  of  the  regiment.  The  ball  entered  his  thigh  midway  be¬ 
tween  the  knee  and  the  hip  joint,  fracturing  the  bone,  but 
not  enough  to  require  amputation. 

The  11th  regiment  took  an  active  part  in  the  operations  in 
front  of  Blakely,  Alabama,  and  received  from  the  commanding 
officer,  in  his  report  of  the  engagement,  the  highest  praise 41  for 


a'O  v'MIVK  ‘A.US'M  M  a  I  a'A  SEJLTIfi! 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


297 


the  zeal,  energy  and  faithfulness  of  both  officers  and  men,  and 
for  the  gallantry  displayed  in  that  memorable  charge  on  the 
enemy’s  works  on  the  9th  of  April.”  Particular  mention  is 
made  of  1st  Lieut.  Angus  R.  McDonald,  who  commanded  Co, 
E,  for  his  gallant  and  heroic  conduct;  who  on  mounting  the 
parapet  of  the  enemy’s  works  was  attacked  by  six  men.  He 
knocked  down  two  men  with  his  sabre,  and  in  return  received 
a  bayonet  wound  m  the  right  lung  and  a  musket  ball  in  the 
right  thigh.  Sergeant  D.  B.  Moore,  of  Co.  E,  whose  timely 
aid  saved  the  life  Lieut.  McDonald,  shot  one,  bayoneted 
another,  and  when  his  own  gun  was  shattered,  seized  another, 
and  compelled  the  remainder  of  the  party  to  surrender. 

The  annual  reports  of  the  Board  of  Education  for  the  years 
1864  and  1865,  were  published  in  the  spring  of  1866,  and  from 
them  the  following  statistics  are  taken:  The  whole  num¬ 
ber  of  children  of  school  age  in  the  city  according  to  the 
last  census,  was  3,193.  The  whole  number  who  have  attended 
school,  enrolled  since  September  1,  1864,  978.  The  Fourth 
ward  school  house  was  reported  under  contract,  and  when  com¬ 
pleted,  the  pressure  on  the  lower  departments  will  be  relieved, 
that  a  stricter  gradation  can  be  made.  There  were  fourteen 
teachers  in  the  employ  of  the  board.  Mr.  J.  T.  Lovewell,  as 
Superintendent  and  Principal  of  the  High  School  and  Miss 
Emeline  Curtis,  Assistant.  The  salaries  of  female  teachers 
were  $400. 

The  work  on  the  State  Capitol  was  continued  on  the  South 
wing  this  year,  and  an  act  of  the  legislature,  approved  April  10, 
appropriated  $25,000  for  that  purpose.  The  census  of  the  state 
as  taken  by  the  State  authorities  in  1865,  gives  the  population 
of  Dane  county,  51,094  —  the  town  of  Madison,  804,  and  the 
city  of  Madison,  9,191. 

At  the  annual  city  election  E.  W.  Keyes  and  Fred.  Briggs 
were  opposing  candidates  for  Mayor.  The  former  was  elected 
by  about  50  majority.  John  Reynolds  was  elected  Treasurer, 
and  the  following  persons  aldermen:  A.  B.  Braley  and  J. 
Herron,  1st  ward;  L.  S.  Ingman  and  J.  Corscott,  2d  ward; 

20 


298 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  ARD  THE 


E.  Sprague  and  A.  Herfurth,  3d  ward;  J.  J.  Starks  and  T. 
W.  Gibbs,  4th  ward. 

The  assassination  of  President  Lincoln,  on  the  15th  of  April, 
was  sensibly  felt  here,  as  in  other  places.  A  meeting  of  the 
citizens  was  held,  and  arrangements  made  for  appropriate  mem¬ 
orial  funeral  ceremonies.  Owing  to  unfavorable  weather  the 
procession  was  omitted,  and  the  services  were  held  in  the  As¬ 
sembly  Hall  on  the  19th.  Remarks  were  made  by  Gov.  J.  T. 
Lewis,  Hon.  Chauncey  Abbott  and  Rev.  Lewis  E.  Matson. 

The  remains  of  Gen.  Theo.  Reed,  a  son  of  Prof.  Daniel 
Reed  of  the  State  University,  who  was  killed  in  a  recent  en¬ 
gagement  before  Richmond,  Ya.,  were  brought  to  this  city,  and 
appropriate  services  were  held  at  the  Assembly  Hall,  with  an  ad¬ 
dress  by  Prof.  Jas.  D.  Butler.  The  remains  were  interred  in 
Forest  Hill  cemetery. 

The  89th  National  Anniversary  was  celebrated  this  year  in  a 
suitable  manner.  The  closing  of  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  had 
taken  place,  and  it  was  decided  at  the  preliminary  meetings 
held  by  the  citizens,  to  have  a  great  celebration.  The  follow¬ 
ing  were  the  officers  of  the  day,  and  brief  account  of  the  exer¬ 
cises:  Gen.  David  Atwood,  President;  Vice  Presidents,  one 
from  each  town  in  the  county;  W.  H.  C.  Hosmer,  Poet;  Rev.  W. 
L.  Green  and  Rev.  J.  L.  Maxwell,  Chaplains;  Col.  Geo.  E. 
Bryant,  with  six  assistants,  Marshal;  Reader,  Col.  Wm. 
Vilas;  Hon.  Geo.  C.  Bates,  of  Chicago,  was  expected  to  de¬ 
liver  the  oration,  but  failed  to  appear,  and  Hon.  H.  S.  Orton 
filled  his  place.  In  the  afternoon  there  was  a  target  practice 
on  the  shore  of  lake  Mendota,  the  gun  Napoleon  was  served  by 
a  squad  of  the  veterans  of  the  3d  battery  under  command  of 
Capt.  H.  F.  Hubbard.  The  target  which  was  anchored  at  a 
distance  of  a  thousand  yards  from  the  shore  consisted  of  two 
dry-goods  boxes  in  a  skiff.  The  shots  were  well  made,  and  the 
exercises  interesting  to  the  large  number  present.  There  was  a 
supplementary  celebration  held  in  the  Park  in  the  afternoon,, 
which  was  enlivened  by  music  from  a  quartette  choir  of  male 
singers.  I.  N.  DeForest  presided,  and  speeches  were  made  by 
J.  W.  Johnson,  S.  G.  Bean,  Rev.  Geo.  Fellows,  Rev.  L.  E. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


299 


Matson  and  Henry  Drew.  In  the  evening,  Wisconsin  Ave¬ 
nue  was  crowded,  and  a  fine  display  of  fireworks  was  made  on 
the  avenue  west  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  The  new  Yacht 
St.  Louis,  that  had  been  recently  placed  on  Lake  Mendota,  did 
an  extensive  business  in  half  hour  trips  to  Pic-nic  Point,  and 
Capt.  Barnes’  steamer,  the  u  Scut,”  was  well  patronized.  The 
Yacht  is  a  beautiful  boat  30  feet  in  length  by  twelve  feet  eight 
inches  broad,  and  is  schooner  rigged. 

In  July  the  clerk  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  Dane  county 
published  a  table  of  taxes  raised  by  the  towns  of  the  county  for 
paying  bounties  to  volunteers  and  furnishing  aid  to  their  fam¬ 
ilies;  from  this  report,  the  amount  of  tax  raised  in  the  county, 
was  $485,532.42;  raised  by  private  subscription,  $153,984.86.; 
raised  by  county  tax  for  soldiers  families,  $9,234.33.  Making  the 
whole  amount  raised  by  the  county,  $648,751.61.  The  town 
ol  Madison  raised  $7,813.19,  and  the  city  of  Madison  $96,077.00,. 
of  which  $23,000  was  by  private  subscription. 

The  City  Assessor  reports  the  taxable  property  of  this  city, 
viz:  Real  property,  $1,835,318.00;  Personal,  $1,163,543.79  —  an 
increase  over  the  previous  year  of  $325,000.  The  amount  of 
tax  to  be  collected,  $36,755.42. 

The  Internal  Revenue  tax  as  published  for  1864-5,  shows. 
Dane  county  entire  $53,329.85  —  city  of  Madison,  $42,044.95, 
of  which  last  amount,  $32,292.75,  was  from  incomes. 

In  addition  to  the  statistics  above  given,  the  following  show¬ 
ing  the  value  of  the  manufactured  goods  in  Madison  for  the 
year  past,  may  prove  interesting,  prepared  by  W.  T.  Leitch, 
City  Assessor: 


Iron  manufactured  and  agricultural  implements . $108,685  00 

Clothing .  100,806  co 

Flour,  12,000  barrels . . .  72,000  00 

Tinware . 20,74700 

Lager  beer .  61,11000 

Coal  gas .  27,000  00 

Cabinet,  ware .  14,000  00 

Boots  and  shoes .  .  29,508  00 


The  first  bill  for  a  Soldiers’  Orphans’  Home  was  introduced 


300 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


in  the  Assembly  in  1865;  but  the  law  authorizing  the  present 
establishment  was  enacted  by  the  Legislature  of  1866,  although 
the  Home  was  opened  January  1, 1866;  the  necessary  means 
being  contributed  by  private  subscription.  The  amount  re¬ 
ceived  from  this  source,  was  $12,834.69.  The  building,  on  the 
bank  of  Lake  Monona,  not  quite  a  mile  from  the  capitol  square? 
was  erected  for  a  residence  by  Governor  Farwell,  in  1856. 
During  the  war  it  was  purchased  by  the  United  States  Govern¬ 
ment  and  converted  into  the  widely  known  “  Harvey  Hospital,” 
for  the  care  and  treatment  of  sick  and  wounded  soldiers.  The 
property  was  purchased  by  the  State  for  $10,000,  and  the  Home 
became  a  State  institution,  March  31,  1866.  Prior  to  the  pur¬ 
chase  of  the  property  by  the  State,  the  institution  had  been 
opened  by  Mrs.  Harvey  and  a  temporary  board  of  trustees. 
Under  their  direction,  the  building  was  thoroughly  refitted  and 
furnished,  and  at  the  time  the  State  took  possession,  there 
were  eighty-four  orphans  duly  admitted  and  properly  cared 
for.  Mrs.  C.  A.  P.  Harvey,  the  widow  of  Governor  Harvey, 
was  the  first  Superintendent.  On  the  first  of  May,  1867,  Mrs. 
Harvey  resigned  as  Superintendent,  and  General  Harnden  as 
Financial  Agent.  Mr.  F.  B.  Brewer  succeeded  Mrs. 
Harvey,  and  Mrs.  Brewer  was  appointed  Matron.  Mr. 
Brewer  resigned  the  1st  of  January,  1868,  and  Rev.  I.  N. 
Cundall  was  elected  to  the  position.  After  filling  it  over  a 
year,  he  resigned,  and  was  succeeded  by  W.  P.  Towers,  and 
Mary  Towers,  his  wife,  as  Matron.  Mr.  Towers  resigned 
March  1,  1872,  and  was  succeeded  by  R.  W.  Burton,  who  is 
the  present  Superintendent. 

The  orphans  are  not  only  maintained,  but  educated  and 
are  brought  up  to  habits  of  industry. 

Under  the  law  of  1870,  six  of  the  pupils  of  the  Home  have 
been  sent  to  the  Normal  School  at  Whitewater  to  be  educated 
at  the  expense  of  the  State  for  two  years,  the  expense  not  to 
exceed  $200  per  year  for  each  pupil. 

On  the  30th  of  September,  1873,  there  were  153  children  in 
the  Home.  The  Legislature  of  1872  appropriated  $30,000  for 
the  current  expenses,  and  in  1873,  $20,000  for  the  same  pur¬ 
pose. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


301 


During  the  year  1871,  one  of  the  hoys  of  the  Home,  Mendel 
P.  Blakesley,  of  Patch  Grove,  was  recommended  by  the  exami¬ 
ners  as  a  suitable  candidate  for  the  naval  school  at  Annapolis, 
and  in  June  he  went  there,  passed  the  examination  at  the 
school  and  was  appointed  by  President  Grant. 

During  the  year,  the  Home  received  $23,000  in  bonds  and 
$554.97  accrued  interest,  after  paying  all  the  expenses  in  secur¬ 
ing  this  magnificent  bequest ;  which  was  the  Home’s  share  of 
nearly  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  left  by  Horatio  Ward, 
deceased,  an  eminent  American  banker,  who  died  in  London, 
England,  to  the  various  Homes  that  have  been  formed  through¬ 
out  the  loyal  states  for  the  orphans  by  the  late  war  for  the  res¬ 
toration  of  the  Union.  The  philanthropic  testator  expressed 
his  desire  as  to  the  disposition  of  this  fund  as  follows:  “I 
judge  that  the  interest  only,  for  a  time,  will  be  used,  and  that 
the  bequest  will  be  so  managed  as  to  give  the  orphans,  as  they 
become  of  age,  a  sum  of  money  to  fit  them  out  in  life,  and 
thus  gradually  extinguish  the  fund.” 

The  Legislature  of  1871  enacted  a  law  to  the  effect  that  after 
September,  1871,  all  children  remaining  in  the  Home  shall  be¬ 
come  the  wards  of  the  State,  and  that  the  State  Board  of  Chari¬ 
ties  and  Reform  shall  be  their  legal  guardians,  with  authority 
to  bind  out  any  of  the  children  to  such  trade  or  occupation  as 
is  deemed  best,  and  to  exercise  a  close  supervision  over  their 
interest  and  safety,  during  their  minority. 

The  improvements  of  the  city  for  the  year  were  numerous 
and  valuable.  The  beautiful  block  of  Mr.  Kohner,  on  Main 
street,  is  one  of  the  finest  ever  built  in  the  place.  It  is  33  feet 
front  by  120  feet  deep,  three  stories  high  above  the  basement, 
built  of  cream  colored  brick,  with  large  plate  glass  windows. 
This  building  was  erected  on  the  site  of  the  old  framed  build¬ 
ing  known  as  the  Dean  and  Ruggles  building.  Some  notice  of 
this  old  landmark  which  was  removed  in  June  of  this  year  to 
make  room  for  its  elegant  successor,  may  not  be  inappropriate. 
The  building  was  erected  in  the  summer  of  1843,  and  occupied 
by  Dr.  J.  D.  Weston  as  a  drug  and  grocery  store.  He  was  sue- 


302 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


ceeded  by  Shields  &  Skeedek,*  who  largely  increased  the 
business.  In  1849,  E.  B.  Deak,  Jr.,  and  J.  D.  Ruggles  formed 
a  copartnership,  and  occupied  this  building.  It  was  next  occu¬ 
pied  by  Gray  &  Starks,  succeeded  by  Gleasok  &  Houghtok^ 
who  established  a  hardware  store,  which  stock  was  subsequently 
purchased  by  John  N.  Jokes.  On  the  completion  of  Mr. 
Jokes1  new  building  on  Pinkney  street,  he/  removed,  and  the 
old  building  was  overhauled  and  refitted  for  a  drug  store  for 
Deak  &  Pardee,  who  occupied  it  until  the  time  came  for  its 
removal. 

Among  the  improvements  of  the  year  was  the  erection  of 
“  Immanuel  Church 11  by  the  German  Evangelical  Society,  on 
the  comer  of  Pinckney  and  Hamilton  streets  —  a  very  neat 
brick  building  34  by  50  feet;  the  two.  story  dwelling  house  of 
Wm.  Yromak,  comer  of  Henry  and  Gilman  streets,  and  numer¬ 
ous  others.  Late  in  the  fall  the  first  Nicholson  pavement  was 
laid  on  Main  street,  on  the  southeast  side  of  the  park. 

In  closing  up  the  record  of  the  war  history  as  far  as  relates 
to  Madison  and  Dane  county,  the  annexed  account  of  the  his¬ 
tory  of  the  Governor’s  Guard  will  prove  of  interest.  It  has 
been  prepared  with  great  care  by  Chakdler  P.  Chapmak, 
Esq.,  of  Madison.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  Governor’s  Guard 
has  a  noble  record.  It  furnished  some  of  the  bravest  of  men 
who  served  in  the  recent  War  of  the  Rebellion. 

The  “  Governor’s  Guard,”  an  independent  company,  attached 
to  the  Eighteenth  Regiment  of  Wisconsin  State  Militia,  was 
organized,  at  a  meeting  held  in  the  city  of  Madison,  January 
30,  1858. 

The  history  of  the  company,  from  the  time  of  its  organiza¬ 
tion  to  the  commencement  of  the  rebellion,  is  much  the  same 
as  that  of  similar  organizations.  In  common  with  them,  its 
members  had  to  patiently  endure  the  taunts  of  overwise  civil¬ 
ians  as  to  the  childishness  of  “  playing  soldier,”  belonging  to 
the  “flood wood”  militia,  and  the  like.  Their  record  below  is 
their  justification. 

^Shields  &  Sneeden  built  the  brick  block  next  to  Verhusen,  and  re¬ 
moved  their  goods  from  the  Weston  store. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


303 


Their  close  application  to  drill  under  the  direction  of  com¬ 
petent  officers,  soon  gave  them  the  reputation  of  being  one  of, 
if  not  the  best  disciplined  company  in  the  northwest. 

At  the  time  of  the  first  call  for  troops,  in  April,  1861,  the 
roll  of  active  members  was  smaller  than  it  had  ever  been  be¬ 
fore.  At  their  last  street  parade  they  turned  out  but  little 
over  thirty  muskets. 

Promptly  on  the  first  news  of  the  call,  the  company  ten¬ 
dered  its  services  to  the  Governor,  and,  after  being  recruited 
to  the  maximum,  assigned  to  the  First  Regiment  of  three 
months  men. 

Since  that  time  (the  20th  of  April,  1861,)  no  meetings  of  the 
company  have  been  held,  and  the  military  history  of  its  indi¬ 
vidual  members,  given  below,  is  its  history. 

Can  any  military  organization  in  the  United  States,  of  its 
age  and  numbers,  show  a  better  record?  If  so,  let  the  names 
and  dates  be  published;  if  not,  we  claim  the  championship  for 
the  “  Governor’s  Guard,”  of  Madison,  Wis. 

The  regiments  are  of  Wisconsin  volunteers,  unless  otherwise 
mentioned. 

Brigadier  General. — Ltjcius  Fairchild. — Capt.  Co.  K,  1st  Regt.  Infy. 
(3  mos.),  April  20,  1861 ;  Capt.  16th  Regulars,  Aug.  5,  1861 ;  Lt.  Col.  2d 
Regt.,  Aug.  20,  1861;  Col.,  Aug.  30,  1862;  Brig.  Gen.  IT.  S.  Vols.,  Oct.  20, 

1863. 

Colonels. — Wm.  Hawley — Capt.  Co.  K,  3d  Regt.  Infy.,  April  24,  1861 ; 
Lt.  Col.,  Aug.  9,  1862;  Col.,  March  10,  1863. 

T.  S.  Allen — Private  Co.  K,  1st  Regt.,  (3  mos.) ;  Capt.  Co.  I,  2d,  April 
2,  1862;  Major,  Aug.  22,  1861;  Lt.  Col.,  Sept.  8, 1862;  Col.  5th  Regt.,  Dec. 
25,  1862;  Col.  5th,  (reorganized),  Sept.  5,  1864. 

John  W.  Jefferson — Major  8th  Regt.  Infy.,  Aug.  8,  1861;  Lt.  Col. 
Feb.  2,  1863;  Col.,  June  1, 1864. 

Charles  L.  Harris— Lt.  Col.  1st  Regt.  Inf.,  (3  mos.),  April  22,  1861 ; 
Col.  11th,  Sept.  2,  1861. 

George  E.  Bryant — Capt.  Co.  E,  1st  Regt.  Infy.,  (3  mos.) ;  Col.  12th, 
Sept.  27,  1861.  Mustered  out  at  expiration  of  three  years’  service. 

James  K.  Proudfit — 2d  Lt.  Co.  K,  1st  Regt.  Infy.,  (3  mos.),  April  2, 
1861;  Adjt.  12th,  Sept.  27,1861;  Lt.  Col.,  July  30,  1863;  Col.,  Hov.  21, 

1864. 


304 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


Cassius  Fairchild — Major  16th  Regt.  Inf.,  Oct.  10,  1861;  Lt.  Col.* 
Dec.  10,  1861 ;  Col.,  March  17,  1864. 

Frank  A.  Haskell — Adjt.  6th  Regt.  Infy.,  June  2,  1861 ;  1st  Lieut.  Co. 
I,  July  5,  1861 ;  1st  Lieut.  Co.  D,  April  18, 1863;  Col.  36th,  Feb.  9,  1864; 
killed,  June  3,  1864. 

Ezra  T.  Sprague — Corp.  1st  Regt.  Infy.,  (3  mos.) ;  Adjt.,  8th,  Sept.  3, 
1861 ;  Col.  42d,  July  29,  1864. 

Lieutenant  Colonels. — Julius  P.  Atwood — Lt.  Col.  6th  Regt'.  Infy.,  May 
28,  1861 ;  resigned  Sept.  14,  1861. 

DeWitt  C.  Poole — 1st  Lieut.  Co.  K,  1st  Regt.  Infy.,  (3  mos.),  April 
20,1861;  Lt.  Col.  12th,  Sept.  25,  1861;  resigned  July  3, 1863.  Commis¬ 
sioned  Lt.  Col.  Yet.  Reserve  Corps. 

Thomas  Reynolds — Q.  M.  17th  Regt.  Infy.,  Dec.  7,  1861;  Major  16th, 
Dec.  10, 1861 ;  Lt.  Col.,  March  17, 1864. 

Wm.  F.  Yilas — Capt.  Co.  A,  23d  Regt.  Inf.,  Aug.  14,  1862;  Major,  Feb. 
26, 1863;  Lt.  Col.,  March  23, 1863;  resigned  Aug.  29,  1863. 

Chas.  A.  Wood— 1st  Sergt.  Co.  K,  1st  Regt.  Inf.,  (3  mos.);  Lt.  Col.  llthr 
Sept.  2,  1861 ;  resigned  June  7, 1863. 

Wm.  H.  Miller — 2d  Lieut.  Co.  E.,  1st  Regt.  Infy.,  (3  mos.),  April  20, 
1861;  Major  2d  Cav.,  Dec.  10, 1861;  Lt.  Col.,  June  13,  1863. 

Majors. — Wm.  H.  Plunkett — 1st  Lieut.  Co.  E,  1st  Regt.  Infy.,  (3  mos.) ; 
Adjt.  17th,  Nov.  11,  1861;  Major,  Nov.  25,  1862. 

A.  J.  Ward — Surgeon  2d  Regt.  Inf.,  Aug.  6,  1861 ;  Surgeon  43d,  Aug. 
12, 1864. 

Benton  McConnell — Q.  M.  10th  Regt.  Infy.,  Aug.  22, 1861 ;  Paymas¬ 
ter,  Feb.  19,  1863. 

H.  K.  Lawrence — Paymaster  U.  S.  A.,  June  30, 1862. 

Joseph  E.  GrEen — Capt.  Co.  D,  23d  Regt.  Infy.,  Major,  Aug.  29,  1863. 

Captains. — A.  A.  Meredith — 1st  Lieut.  Co.  H,  2d  Regt.  Infy.,  May  9, 
1861 ;  Capt,  and  A.  C.  S.,  June  11,  1862. 

Julius  F.  Randolph — Capt.  Co.  H,  2d  Regt.  Infy.,  April  26,  1861;: 
killed,  Aug.  28,  1862. 

Nat.  Rollins— 2d  Lieut.  Co.  H,  2d  Regt.  Infy.,  April  26, 1861 ;  1st 
Lieut.,  June  11,  1862;  Capt..  Aug.  29,  1862. 

Edward  R.  Chase — Sergt.  Co.  K,  1st  Regt.  Infy.,  (3  mos.) ;  Capt.  Co. 
F,  11th  Regt.  Infy.,  Oct.  2,  1861;  Capt.  Yet.  Reserve  Corps. 

E.  S.  Oakley — 1st  Lieut.  Co.  B,  11th  Regt.  Infy.,  Sept.  30, 1861 ;  Capt.r 
Feb.  15,  1862;  resigned,  Jan.  23,  1863. 

Wm.  G.  Pitman — Lieut.  Co.  K,  1st  Regt.  Infy., (3  mos.);  Adjt. 23d  Regt. 
Infy.,  Sept.  1,  1862;  Capt.  Co.  I,  April  6,  1863;  resigned,  Dec.  16, 1863. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


305- 


A.  R.  Jones— Capt.  Co.  I,  23d  Regt.  Infy.,  Aug.  20,  1862;  resigned, 
April  4, 1863. 

J.  W.  Tolford— 1st  Lieut.  Co.  D,  23d  Regt.  Infy.,  Aug.  21,  1862;  CapL 
Co.  G,  May  11,  1863. 

Albert  Pearson — Chief  Mus’n  2d  Regt.  Cav. ;  1st  Lieut.  1st  Ark.  Cay.,- 
now  Capt. 

Geo.  T.  Clark — Capt.  Co.  of  Colorado  Cavalry,  on  expedition  against 
Indians. 

•ifianiLiy  ’S  ’O  uojSniqsB^,,  '^d^o — craotfaYug;  o  ‘H 

Lieutenants. — Lewis  D.  Aldrich — Sergt.  Co.  K,  1st  Regt.  Infy.,  ($ 
mos.);  Adjt.  4th  Infy.,  June  14,  1861;  died,  May  21,  1862. 

Jas.  D.  Ruggles — Q.  M.  2d  Regt.  Infy.,  June  12,  1861;  resigned  Feb. 
27,  1863. 

Theodore  J.  Widvey — 1st  Lieut.  Co.  K,  3d  Regt.  Infy.,  April  24, 
1861 ;  resigned,  March  13, 1863. 

H.  B.  Lighthizer — 2d  Lieut.  Co.  E,  4th  Regt.  Infy.,  June  8, 1861;  1st 
Lieut.,  Aug.  24,  1862;  resigned,  June  2,  1863. 

James  L.  Baker — 2d  Lieut'  Co.  D,  23d  Regt.  Infy.,  Feb.  6,  1863 ;  1st 
Lieut.,  May  30,  1863. 

Daniel  R.  Coit — 1st  Lieut.  11th 'Reg.  Infy.,  May  14,  1861. 

L.  C.  Mitchell — 1st  Lieut.,  19th  Regt.  Infy. 

George  M.  Sabin — Corp.  Co.  K,  1st  Regt.  Infy.,  (3  mos.);  Adjt.  16th, 
Nov.  19,  1861;  discharged  at  expiration  of  three  years’  service,  having 
declined  promotion  as  Lt.  Col.  5th  Infy. 

Ed.  Illsley — A..  A.  Paymaster,  U.  S.  Navy. 

Geo.  E.  Bacon — Adjt. - Regt.  N.  Y.  Yols. 

Jesse  T.  Gleason — Adjt.  23d  Indiana  Yols. 

Wm.  S.  Hobart — 1st  Lieut.  Pennsylvania  Yols.,  (3  mos.) 

Non-Commissioned  Officers  and  Privates. — Jas.  Murison — N.  C.  S.,  1st 
Regt.  Infy.,  (3  mos.) 

C.  P.  Chapman — N.  C.  S.,  6th  Regt.  Infy. 

Chas.  Chittenden — N.  C.  S.,  11th  Regt.  Infy. 

J.  W.  Johnson — Corp.  Co.  K,  1st  Regt.  Infy.,  (3  mos.) 

Henry  Pellage — Leader  of  Gen.  Blunt’s  band.  Murdered  by  Quant- 
bell’s  guerillas. 

T.  D.  Kanouse — Musician  6th  Regt.  Infy. 

Geo.  W.  Smith — Private  in  Berdan’s  Sharpshooters. 

T.  T.  Richardson — Private  in  Berdan’s  Sharpshooters. 

A.  C.  Mills — Private,  40th  Regt.  Infy. 


BOS  HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


RECAPITULATION. 

Brigadier  General, . 1 

^Colonels, . 9 

Lieutenant  Colonels, . 6 

Majors,  . .  .  .  .  5 

Captains, . 10 

"Rebel  Captain, . 1 

Lieutenants,  . . 12 

Non-Commissioned  officers  and  privates, . 9 

Total,  . . 53 


1866.  The  south  wing  of  the  State  Capitol  was  completed 
according  to  contract,  and  the  rooms  and  offices  put  in  readi¬ 
ness  for  use.  The  State  Historical  Society  removed  their 
valuable  library  and  collections  to  the  second  floor  of  the 
wing,  which  had  been  appropriated  for  their  use  by  the  State 
Legislature,  and  prepared  with  suitable  glass  cases  and  furni¬ 
ture.  On  the  evening  of  January  24th,  the  rooms  were 
formally  dedicated  by  appropriate  services  in  the  Assembly 
Chamber  —  addresses  by  I.  A.  Lapham,  LL.  D.,  President  of  the 
Society,  and  Ex-Gov.  Edw.  Salomon,  and  singing  by  a  select 
quartette  choir. 

Hon.  J .  Y.  Smith,  in  writing  of  the  opening  of  the  new 
rooms  for  the  State  Historical  Society,  says  :  u  The  occasion 
was  one  of  unmingled  satisfaction  to  the  founders  and  early 
friends  of  the  enterprise,  and  of  deep  interest  to  the  large 
assembly  convened  upon  the  occasion.  We  know  of  no  enter¬ 
prise  of  the  like  magnitude,  which  reflects  so  much  credit  upon 
the  State  as  this.  While  its  cost  in  money  has  been  but  trifling, 
its  usefulness  is  beyond  estimate.  It  will  be  a  favorite  and 
profitable  resort  for  state  officers  and  members  of  legislatures, 
professors  and  students  of  the  University,  and  the  curious  and 
studious  of  all  classes;  and  future  generations  of  citizens  will 
bless  the  forethought  which  provided  such  a  reservoir  of 
knowledge.  No  stranger  should  visit  Madison  without  spend¬ 
ing  a  day  at  the  Historical  rooms,  where  he  will  always  find  a 
cordial  welcome.” 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN.  307 

Mr.  Smith  also  gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  history 
of  the  Society,  from  which  the  following  extracts  are  taken: 

“  The  State  Historical  Society,  which  was  organized  in  Jan¬ 
uary,  1849,  was  re-organized  under  a  charter  of  the  legislature 
of  1853.  In  the  re-organization,  Gen.  Wm.  R.  Smith  was 
elected  President,  and  Lymax  C.  Draper,  Corresponding  Sec¬ 
retary. 

“  The  growth  and  prosperity  of  this  Society  began  from 
the  date  of  its  rd-organization.  Under  the  energetic  and 
untiring  efforts  of  the  Secretary,  Mr.  Draper,  it  made  rapid 
progress  from  this  time  onward,  in  the  objects  for  which  it 
was  formed  —  the  securing  of  historical  collections.  He. 
opened  correspondence  with  other  societies,  and  with  indi¬ 
viduals  throughout  the  county,  soliciting  donations  and 
exchanges  from  every  available  source,  as  well  as  written  contri¬ 
butions  and  relics  relating  to  the  history  of  our  own  State,  and 
the  result  was,  that  collections  rapidly  accumulated. 

“  Mr.  D.  S.  Durrie  was  chosen  Librarian  at  the  election  in 
January,  1856,  but  for  two  years  his  duties  were  but  nominal 
and  rendered  without  compensation.  The  Society  in  1856, 
procured  rooms  in  the  basement  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  in 
1858,  the  collections  had  become  so  large  and  of  so  much 
interest,  that  the  Librarian  devoted  his  whole  time  to  the 
duties  of  that  office,  in  which  position  he  has  been  continued 
by  the  votes  of  the  Society  to  the  present  time. 

“  Chiefly  as  the  result  of  the  labors  of  the  Corresponding 
Secretary  and  Librarian,  tbe  Society  has  become  a  success 
beyond  anything  of  the  kind  in  this  section  of  the  country.” 

The  Library*  now  numbers,  January,  1866,  21,366  volumes, 
bound  and  unbound,  of  which  1,136  are  bound  newspaper  files. 
Of  the  latter,  138  were  published  in  the  last  century,  several 
of  them  by  Dr.  Fraxklix,  and  one  volume  in  the  century 
preceding.  The  Society  has,  moreover,  sixty  oil  paintings, 
mostly  portraits;  over  400  atlases,  maps  and  diagrams,  some 

*The  Library  contained,  January  i,  1874,  57,254  books,  pamphlets  and 
documents,  91  oil  portraits  and  paintings,  and  2,144  volumes  of  bound 
newspaper  files. 


308 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


of  them  giving  us  the  vague  ideas  entertained  of  the  American 
continent  nearly  two  hundred  years  ago.  The  Society  has  an 
exceedingly  interesting  collection  of  mementoes  aud  relics  of 
the  recent  war,  and  many  curious  articles,  both^natural  and 
artificial,  sent  it  from  various  sections  of  the  State. 

The  city  election  took  place  April  3d.  E.  W.  Keyes,*  was 
the  Union  candidate  for  Mayor.  Simeon  Mills  was  solicited 
to  be  a  candidate,  which  honor  he  accepted,  but  declined,  before 
the  election.  Wm.  H.  Nolan  (colored),  received  306  votes.  Mr, 
Keyes,  961,  and  was  elected.  There  was  no  opposition  to  Col, 
S.  V.  Shipman  for  Treasurer,  who  received  1,402  votes.  For 
Police  Justice,  Jas.  M.  Flower  received  586  votes,  and  John 
R.  Baltzell,  825,  and  was  elected  by  239  majority.  The  fol¬ 
lowing  Aldermen  were  elected:  H.  Lacher  and  Jas.  Conklin* 
First  ward;  H.  M.  Lewis  and  John  Corscott,  Second  ward;, 
Kyron  Tierney  and  M.  Neinhaber,  Third  ward;  and  Geo.  W, 
McDougal  and  J.  C.  McKenney,  Fourth  ward. 

The  water  in  the  lakes  this  spring  was  higher  than  than  for 
many  years.  The  marsh,  north  of  the  capitol,  was  submerged, 
the  bridges  across  the  Catfish  were  broken  and  drifted  away, 
and  all  travel  out  of  the  city  by  the  usual  route  was  cut  off. 
It  was  some  little  time  before  the  injuries  could  be  repaired. 

An  act  of  the  legislature  was  passed  and  approved  for  the 
completion  of  the  State  Capitol  and  heating  the  same,  the  latter 
to  be  completed  by  December  1, 1866,  and  the  former,  December 
1,  1867,  and  the  sum  of  $110,000  appropriated,  of  which 
amount  $85,000  was  to  complete  the  building,  and  $25,000  for 
the  heating  apparatus.  As  required  by  the  law,  the  building 
commissioners  received  proposals  for  the  work,  but  the  amount 

*  Elisha  W.  Keyes,  Esq. ,  is  a  son  of  Capt.  Joseph  and  Cleve  Keyes,  and  was 
born  at  Northfield,  Washington  county,  Vermont,  January  23,  1828.  He 
came  to  Wisconsin  with  his  parents  in  June,  1837.  He  resided  at  Lake  Mills* 
Jefferson  county,  until  1850,  and  removed  to  Madison  in  December  of  that 
year  to  commence  the  study  of  law.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  October 
14,  1851,  and  was  elected  District  Attorney  for  Dane  county,  1859  anc*  1860* 
He  was  appointed  Postmaster  at  Madison  in  April,  1861,  and  re-appointed 
in  1865,  1869  and  1873,  and  has  been  the  Chairman  of  the  Republican 
State  Central  Committee  for  a  long  term  of  years. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


809 


appropriated  proving  insufficient  —  the  amount  of  the  lowest 
bid  being  $151,500  —  the  commissioners  decided  not  to  take  any 
further  steps  in  the  matter,  but  to  refer  the  same  to  the  next 
legislature.  The  steam  heating  apparatus  was  put  in  the 
building  during  the  year,  at  an  expense  of  $25,000. 

The  Legislature,  at  the  same  session,  passed  an  act  approved 
April  11,  for  erecting  one  transverse  and  one  longitudinal  wing 
on  the  east  side  of  the  main  building  of  the  Hospital  for  the 
Insane.  On  the  19th  of  June  proposals  were  received  from 
oontractors,  and  the  contract  was  awarded  to  A.  Proudfit  for 
the  mason  work  at  $64,500,  and  Anderson,  Davidson  &  Co., 
oarpenter  work,  $33,500,  the  whole  amounting  to  $98,000. 

Dr.  A.  H.  Van  Norstrand  succeeded  Dr.  J.  P.  Clement  as 
Superintendent,  April  20,  1864,  and  discharged  his  duties  until 
June  6,  1868,  when  he  resigned,  and  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  A. 
S.  McDill,  who  served  until  April  29,  1873,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Dr.  Mark  Ranney,  the  present  Superintendent. 

The  entire  length  of  the  hospital  building  is  569  feet,  the 
center  building  being  65  by  120  —  the  first  longitudinal  wing 
on  each  side  of  the  center  is  132  feet,  and  the  last,  on  each  ex¬ 
tremity,  is  119  feet.  The  transverse  wings  are  87  feet  long. 
These  elegant  and  commodious  buildings  are  surrounded  by 
ornamental  grounds,  wood  and  farming  lands  to  the  extent  of 
393  acres,  and  when  the  extensions  and  improvements  contem¬ 
plated  are  added,  will  make  it  a  complete  institution,  creditable 
to  the  enterprise  and  philanthropy  of  the  people  of  Wisconsin, 
and  well  adapted  for  the  care  of  the  unfortunates  needing  their 
protection.  The  construction  of  the  Madison  and  Baraboo 
Railroad,  with  a  station  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  hospital 
farm,  gives  the  institution  a  railroad  connection,  the  absence  of 
which  has  heretofore  been  a  serious  drawback  to  the  locality. 

From  the  annual  report  of  the  Board  of  Education  for  the 
year  1866,  we  have  the  following  items:  The  whole  number 
of  children  in  the  city  of  school  age,  3,366.  The  present  school 
accommodations  are  for  965  children;  the  building  of  the 
Fourth  Ward  School  House,  on  lots  1  and  2,  block  48,  over¬ 
looking  Lake  Monona,  was  put  under  contract  to  Jas.  Livesey 


310 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


for  $12,130,  and  outbuildings,  $500.  This  building  was  com¬ 
pleted  during  the  year,  and  is  built  in  the  Italio- American  styleT 
65  feet  front  by  42-J-  deep  with  projections  in  front  of  5  by  22 
feet,  and  7  by  22  in  the  rear.  It  is  constructed  of  buff  colored 
Edgerton  brick,  with  magnesian  limestone  dressing  with  a. 
gable  or  pediment  on  each  four  sides,  and  a  bell  tower 
in  the  center  of  the  roof.  It  is  heated  by  two  furnaces 
in  the  basement.  Hon.  J.  G.  McMynn,  then  State  Super¬ 
intendent,  pronounces  it  6t  the  best  arranged  school  build¬ 
ing  in  the  State.”  The  board  propose  to  purchase  lots  2  and 
3,  block  138,  for  the  Second  Ward  School,  and  intend  to  com¬ 
mence  immediately  the  erection  of  a  school  house  modeled  after 
the  Fourth  Ward  School. 

The  Board  of  Regents  of  the  University,  in  their  report  for 
the  year  1866,  say  they  have  purchased  the  lands  adjoining  the 
University  grounds,  some  195  acres,  which,  with  lands  now  be¬ 
longing  to  the  institution,  40  and  acres,  form  one  tract  with 
an  area  of  235  acres.  These  lands  were  purchased  for  an  experi¬ 
mental  farm,  and  the  funds  obtained  from  the  proceeds  of  bonds 
issued  by  Dane  county  to  the  amount  of  $40,000,  to  be  devoted 
to  this  purchase.  The  Government  of  the  United  States  having 
in  1862,  donated  to  the  State  of  Wisconsin  240,000  acres  of 
land  for  the  benefit  of  agriculture  and  mechanic  arts,  the  in¬ 
come  of  a  fund  to  be  derived  from  the  sale  of  these  lands,  was 
appropriated  to  the  support  of  the  University. 

Hon.  J.  L.  Pickard  was  elected  President  of  the  University  y 
which  position  was  by  him  declined,  and  it  was  then  tendered 
to  Prof.  P.  A.  Chadbourne,  of  Williams  College,  who  also  de¬ 
clined,  but  reconsidered  his  decision  and  entered  upon  his  duties 
in  1867.  The  value  of  the  University  property  reported,  in¬ 
cluding  the  University  grounds,  agricultural  college  lands  and 
University  buildings  was  $466,709.18.  The  library  contains 
2,600  volumes. 

On  the  21st  of  May,  1866,  a  contract  was  made  with  J.  H.  Un¬ 
derwood,  for  sinking  an  artesian  well  in  the  Capitol  Park, 
near  the  building,  with  wrought  iron  tubing,  eight  inches  ex¬ 
terior,  and  six  inches  wide;  to  be  sunk  five  hundred  feet.  No 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


311 


water  was  obtained  at  that  depth,  and  the  work  was  continued 
to  the  depth  of  1,026  feet,  or  more  than  100  feet  below  the  sea 
level,  but  without  success.  As  will  subsequently  appear,  the 
well  was  made  serviceable  and  used  to  great  advantage.  Of 
this  well  Maj.  H.  A.  Tenney  says:  It  very  clearfy  revealed  the 
existence  of  ancient  and  intense  igneous  action  beneath,  and 
proves  that  our  primary  is  not  only  below  all  other  local  min¬ 
eral  ranges,  but  is  equally  beneath  the  deepest  borings  in  the 
gypsum  and  salt  beds  of  Michigan  and  Illinois,  the  coal  reg¬ 
ions,  and  the  saline  deposits  of  the  great  plains,  and  it  is  more 
than  suspected  that  it  is  the  central  focus  of  all  the  deep  drain¬ 
age  of  this  portion  of  the  Continent. 

The  celebration  of  the  90th  National  Anniversary  was  a 
great  success.  One  newspaper  says:  “No  celebration  ever' 
passed,  off  more  satisfactorily  or  more  creditably  to  all  con¬ 
cerned.”  The  stores  on  the  main  streets  were  gaily  decorated 
with  banners  and  flags,  and  at  least  20,000  persons  were  pres¬ 
ent;  700  came  from  Janesville;  a  train  of  12  cars,  with  700  or 
or  800  from  Beloit  and  way  stations.  Some  3,000  are  presumed 
to  have  come  by  the  cars.  The  procession  was  very  large,  one; 
a  procession  of  battle  flags,  one  hundred  and  forty  in  number,- 
borne  by  those  who  had  served  under  them;  a  procession  of 
Soldiers1  Orphans,  Engine  Companies,  etc.  Gen.  Lysander 
Cutler  was  Chief  Marshal,  and  Gen  Cassius  Fairchild,  Mar¬ 
shal  of  the  Day.  The  officers  of  the  day  were:  Hon.  L.  S, 
Dixon,  President;  Vice  Presidents  from  Dane  county  towns; 
Rev.  J.  L.  Maxwell  and  Prof.  J.  D.  Butler,  Chaplains;  J.  E. 
Murdock,  Reader,  and  Hon.  Levi  Hubbell,  Orator.  A  pre¬ 
sentation  of  the  flags  to  the  State  was  made  with  address  by 
Col.  W.  P.  Lyon,  and  reply  by  Gov.  Fairchild.  The  exercises 
were  interspersed  with  readings  by  Mr.  Murdock  and  singing, 
by  the  soldiers1  orphans. 

The  city  assessor  in  July,  published  a  statement  of  the  taxes 
of  the  city  —  the  whole  amount,  city,  state  and  county,  to  be 
collected  is  $57,760.  The  total  valuation  of  property, 
$2,799,686,  a  percentage  of  about  two  per  cent,  against  two  and 
thirty  hundredths  last  year. 


M2 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


The  success  of  Capt.  Barnes’  little  steamer  the  Scut,  induced 
the  owner  to  build  a  new  one,  50  feet  long  and  11|  wide,  cap¬ 
able  of  carrying  15  tons  and  80  persons.  The  boat  was  made  at 
Whitewater,  was  launched  on  lake  Monona,  April  IT,  and  did 
a  large  and  lucrative  business.  The  Captain,  with  his  usual 
foresight,  purchased  Squaw  Point,  Lake  Monona,  and  gave  it 
the  name  of  u  Winnequah,”  built  a  large  dance  room,  with  re¬ 
refreshment  rooms,  a  fine  bowling  alley,  and  fittted  up  the 
grounds  with  swings,  etc.,  making  it  one  of  the  pleasantest 
spots  around  Madison  for  pic-nics. 

Messrs.  Young  &  Bro.,  built  this  year  on  the  vacant  lot  ad¬ 
joining  the  one  they  owned,  a  block  of  two  stores,  80  feet  long 
and  40  feet  wide,  of  cream  colored  brick,  three  stories  high,  the 
third  story  used  as  a  Masonic  Hall. 

The  Lake  Side  Water  Cure,  on  the  opposite  side  of  Lake 
Monona,  was,  in  June,  remodeled  and  prepared  for  a  public 
house.  It  was  advertised  as  capable  of  accommodating  120 
guests.  The  building  is  four  stories,  and  has  all  the  conveni¬ 
ences  of  a  first  class  hotel.  B.  Frodsham,  Esq.,  was  the  lessee. 
It  soon  became  known  for  the  beauty  of  its  location,  and  was 
and  is  a  favorite  resort  for  summer  visitors  from  St.  Louis  and 
other  localities. 

On  the  4th  of  November,  St.  Raphael’s  Church  was  conse¬ 
crated  with  the  imposing  ceremonies  of.  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  The  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Henni  performed  the  service, 
and  a  sermon  was  delivered  by  Father  Riordan.  The  large 
building  was  filled  to  its  capacity,  over  1,000  persons  being 
present.  The  Bishop  administered  the  rite  of  confirmation  to 
250  persons. 

One  of  the  prominent  city  improvements,  this  year,  was  the 
erection  of  the  Rasdall  House  on  King  street.  It  is  a  large 
and  handsome  building,  85  by  75  feet,  four  stories  high,  and 
basement,  with  72  rooms,  and  a  dining  room  58  by  25  feet, 
large  rooms  for  parlor,  reading  room,  saloon,  etc. 

Andrew  Kentzler  completed  his  large  brick  stable,  one  of 
the  finest  in  the  State,  built  of  Edgerton  brick,  and  is  74  feet 
$>y  66  feet,  two  stories,  which,  with  the  old  building  connected 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


313 


with  it,  makes  a  building  66  by  132  feet  —  occupying  the  whole 
lot. 

L.  D.  Stoke  erected  a  large  and  elegant  dwelling  house  In 
the  Fourth  ward,  below  the  depot  of  the  Milwaukee  and  St. 
Paul  Railroad.  N.  W.  Deak,  stone  barn,  33  by  80  feet,  in  rear 
of  the  American  Hotel;  German  Catholic  Church,  on  Johnson 
street,  near  State  street;  B.  W.  Suckow’s  brick  dwelling  house; 
Sokeksok  &  Fredricksoh,  stone  planing  mill  and  sash  and 
blind  manufactory;  and  framed  dwelling  houses  erected  by  S. 
Hegak,  C.  Heikrichs,  J.  Y.  Smith  (double),  W.  J.  Sulliyak, 
W.  Davidsoh,  W.  Deards,  Mr.  McGoyerk,  and  others. 

In  December,  the  first  steam  fire  engine  was  received,  and 
tried  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Monona,  with  one  thousand  feet  of 
hose.  Steam  power  was  used  five  minutes  after  the  fire  was 
made.  The  engine  was  a  success  every  way. 

An  act  of  the  Legislature,  approved  April  11,  1867,  author¬ 
izing  the  Building  Commissioners  to  provide,  by  contract, 
for  the  building  of  the  rotunda  of  the  State  Capitol,  and 
roofing  the  same,  to  be  completed  by  Dec.  1  of  that  year,  and 
$85,000  appropriated  for  that  purpose.  On  the  18th  of  May, 
the  bids  that  were  offered  were  opened,  and  the  contract 
awarded  to  Wm.  Goodehow,  for  the  sum  of  $83,636. 

The  Governor,  in  his  message  to  the  Legislature,  January  9, 
1868,  recommends  an  appropriation  for  the  construction  of  the 
Dome.  In  the  message,  he  states,  u  that  the  artesian  well  in 
the  park  has  been  sunk  to  the  depth  of  980  feet,  but,  up  to 
that  date,  had  not  proved  a  success  —  that  the  completion  of 
the  present  contract  will  leave  the  well  1,000  feet  deep.  There 
had  been  expended  upon  it  $8,622.70. 

In  February,  of  1867,  Rev.  Chas.  H.  Richards  was  called 
from  Kokomo,  Ind.,  to  become  pastor  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  and,  on  the  10th  of  March,  entered  upon  his  work,  in 
which  he  still  continues.  From  the  Church  Manual,  published 
in  1869,  it  appears  that  the  church  has  a  membership  of  226; 
an  admirably  manned  Sunday  School  of  about  400  members, 
with  an  average  attendance  of  260  since  the  year  opened;  a 
Ladies1  Benevolent  Society,  worked  actively  for  the  poor  ;  and 
21 


314 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


Ladies’  Missionary  Society,  which  raises  about  $300  for  the 
support  of  a  female  missionary  in  India. 

On  the  23d  January.  Hon,  A.  Van  Wyck  delivered  an  ad¬ 
dress  before  the  State  Historical  Society,  at  the  Assembly 
Hall  —  the  first  annual  address  since  the  society  occupied  their 
rooms  in  the  Capitol. 

At  the  spring  election  for  city  officers,  held  in  April,  Alden 
S.  Sanborn*  and  Jas.  K.  Proudfit  were  the  opposing  candi¬ 
dates  for  Mayor.  The  former  received  856  votes,  and  the  latter 
608;  Mr.  Sanborn  being  elected  by  248  majority.  For  City 
Treasurer,  Wm.  Helms  received  579  votes,  and  Geo.  Memhard, 
895,  and  was  elected  by  316  majority.  The  Aldermen  elected 
were:  1st  ward,  Robert  Nichols  and  Sam.  Engel;  2d  ward, 
A.  R.  Jones  and  M.  T.  Bailey;  3d  ward,  M.  Christophers 
and  P.  B.  Kissam;  4th  ward,  H.  N.  Moulton  and  Simon 
Foren. 

The  Grace  Church  (Episcopal)  received,  in  April,  their  new 
pipe  organ,  which  was  the  first  of  the  kind  introduced  in  the 
city  churches.  It  has  680  pipes  and  20  registers. 

The  new  steamer,  u  The  City  of  Madison,”  was  completed 
and  placed  on  Lake  Mendota  May  15.  It  has  two  engines,  64- 
horse  power  each,  and  boiler  capable  of  running  a  20-horse 
power  engine;  is  56  feet  long,  13  feet  beam,  18  feet  across  the 
paddle  boxes,  with  a  cabin  16  feet  by  12.  It  was  built  by  E. 
&  W.  Hendricks,  and  very  strongly  constructed,  and  is  de¬ 
signed  to  run  to  the  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  Picnic  Point,  and 
other  places  on  the  lake.  This  was  the  first  steamer  built  for 
this  lake. 

The  Celebration  on  July  4  was  observed  in  the  usual  manner,. 

*  Hon.  Alden  S.  Sanborn  was  born  in  the  town  of  Corinth,  Orange 
county,  Vt.,  Oct.  21,  1820;  was  educated  at  academies  in  New  England 
and  New  York;  is  by  profession  an  attorney.  He  came  to  Wisconsin  in 
1846,  and  settled  at  Milwaukee;  was  Treasurer  of  Milwaukee  county  in 
1849;  District  Attorney  of  Brown  county  in  1851  and  1852,  and  of  Outa¬ 
gamie  county  in  1853  and  1854;  was  member  of  Assembly  for  the  Third 
District  of  Dane  county  in  1862,  1863  and  1864,  and  for  the  Fifth  District 
in  1870;  was  Mayor  of  Madison  in  1867,  and  City  Attorney  in  1869. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


315 


with  a  large  gathering  of  people  from  the  country.  J.  C. 
Gregory,  President;  Rev.  J.  C.  C.  Clarke,  Chaplain;  Prof.  B. 
M.  Reynolds,  Reader;  J.  M.  Bull,  Poet;  Capt.  A.  R.  McDon¬ 
ald,  Marshal;  Hon.  H.  S.  Orton,  Orator.  The  address  of  the 
latter  was  highly  spoken  of. 

From  a  published  account  of  the  sales  of  merchants  of  Madi¬ 
son,  as  reported  to  the  Assessor  of  Internal  Revenue  for  the 
year  ending  April  30,  1867,  whose  sales  exceeded  $30,000,  we 
extract  the  following:  S.  Klauber  &  Co.,  dry  goods,  etc., 
$275,000;  S.  L.  Sheldon  &  Co.,  agricultural  implements, 
$250,000;  M.  E.  Fuller  &  Co.,  same,  $191,500;  J.  Lenz  &  Co., 
(10  months,)  $154,000;  Dunning  &  Sumner,  .drugs  and  gro¬ 
ceries,  $105,000;  A.  Findlay,  same,  $100,000;  Klauber  &  Ott, 
groceries,  $100,000;  Ramsay  &  Campbell,  hardware,  $88,000;. 
J.  N.  Jones,  same,  $70,250;  E.  W.  Skinner  &  Co.,  agricultural 
implements,  etc.,  $77,500. 

From  the  annual  report  of  the  Board  of  Education,  for 
1867,  we  have  the  following  statistics,  and  also  the  improve¬ 
ments  carried  forward; 

“The  whole  number  of  school  children,  3,559;  an  increase 
of  193  since  1866;  number  enrolled  during  the  year,  1,626. 
The  following  is  a  description  of  the  Second  Ward  School 
House,  which  occupies,  with  its  grounds,  lots  2,  3  and  south¬ 
west  half  of  4,  in  block  138: 

“  The  grounds  have  a  front  of  165  feet  on  Gorham  street, 
and  a  depth  of  about  265  feet  to  Lake  Mendota,  upon  which  it 
has  a  border  of  about  165  feet.  This  site,  which  contains  one 
acre,  is  well  supplied  with  native  forest  trees,  and  cost  $1,650. 

“  The  building  is  61  feet  front  by  42  feet  deep,  with  vestibule 
projection  of  five  by  twenty  feet  in  front,  and  eleven  by  twen¬ 
ty-six  feet  in  rear. 

“  The  basement  walls  are  of  stone,  laid  upon  a  concrete  foun¬ 
dation,  composed  of  broken  stone  and  cement  —  are  eight  feet 
high.  The  rooms  are  well  lighted,  and  floored  with  brick  laid 
in  cement,  upon  concrete  of  gravel  and  cement,  and  afford  am¬ 
ple  room  for  furnaces  and  fuel,  as  well  as  play  room  for  pupils, 
in  stormy  weather. 


316 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


“The  building  above  the  basement  is  constructed  of  Edger- 
ton  brick,  with  limestone  trimmings.  It  is  two  stories  high, 
with  four  gables,  and  a  bell  tower  rising  from  the  centre  to  the 
height  of  about  60  feet  from  the  ground,  in  which  is  hung  a 
600  pound  bell. 

“  There  are  four  school  rooms,  each  26  by  34  feet,  and  13  feet 
high,  capable  of  furnishing  seats  for  64  to  72  pupils,  with  am-, 
pie  wardroom  closets. 

“  The  exterior  woodwork  is  painted  and  sanded.  The  inte¬ 
rior  is  grained  to  represent  oak.  The  rooms  are  warmed  by 
Littlefield’s  hot  air  furnaces,  and  are  each  furnished  with  two 
ventilating  flues,  with  iron  fan  registers,  which,  with  the  con¬ 
veniences  for  opening  windows  from  top  and  bottom,  it  is  be¬ 
lieved  will  insure  complete  ventilation. 

UA  small  room,  10  by  12  feet,  on  the  second  floor,  may  be 
used  as  a  reception  room,  or  for  recitations,  or  as  teachers’  pri¬ 
vate  room. 

“  The  water  from  the  roof  of  the  whole  building  is  conducted 
to  a  cistern  under  the  basement  of  the  rear  vestibule,  which 
has  a  capacity  of  about  250  barrels. 

11  The  water  closets,  18  by  26  feet,  are  in  the  rear  of  the  rear 
vestibule,  and  so  constructed  as  to  form  part  of  the  building, 
and  by  means  of  the  cistern  the  vaults  can  be  frequently 
washed  and  the  contents  sluiced  into  a  cesspool  some  150  feet 
distant.  A  ventilating  shaft,  extending  from  the  vaults  to  the 
top  of  the  smoke-stack,  affords  an  escape  for  gasses  and  foul 
air. 

u  The  building  was  erected  by  contract  with  W.  T.  Fish, 
Esq.,  by  whom  the  mason  work  was  done;  the  carpenter  work 
by  Messrs.  Sorenson  &  Frederickson;  the  plastering  by  Messrs. 
E.  Sharp  &  Co.;  the  tin  work  and  heating  apparatus  by  Messrs. 
Lewis  &  Allen,  and  the  painting  by  Messrs.  Pollard  &  Nel¬ 
son.  The  whole  work  was  under  the  general  superintendence 
of  L.  P.  Drake,  Esq.,  and  cost  $16,000.  The  architect  was  G. 
P.  Randall,  of  Chicago.” 

The  United  States  Government  having  purchased  the  lots  on 
the  corner  of  Mifflin  street  and  Wisconsin  avenue,  for  a  Court 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


317 


House  and  Post  Office,  the  building  known  as  the  Catlih 
dwelling  house,  was  removed  in  July,  having  been  sold  to  Judge 
E.  Wakeley,  who  had  it  taken  apart  and  removed  to  Omaha, 
Nebraska.  The  first  improvements  on  this  corner  were  a  log 
house  put  up  by  Johh  Catlih,  Esq.,  the  first  Postmaster,  in 
1838,  and  a  two  story  framed  building  subsequently  added  to 
the  front,  facing  the  Capitol  square.  It  was  a  fine  building  in 
its  day,  and,  after  Mr.  Catlin’s  removal,  had  many  occupants, 
among  others,  N.  B.  Van  Slyke,  Esq,,  Wm.  A.  Mears  and  E. 
W.  Keyes.  To  the  elegant  and  costly  structure  erected  on  its 
site,  we  shall  hereafter  refer. 

There  was  a  number  of  important  improvements  made 
during  the  year.  Among  them  a  fine  stone  block  on  Wash¬ 
ington  avenue  by  Dr.  J.  B.  Boweh,  on  the  ground  occupied  by 
the  Dane  county  store,  the  building  on  which  was  destroyed  by 
fire  the  year  previous.  The  buildings  are  sixty-six  feet  by  sev¬ 
enty  feet  deep,  and  extend  to  the  corner  of  Webster,  and  pre¬ 
pared  for  three  stores.  The  new  Lutheran  church,  corner  of 
Washington  avenue  and  West  Canal  street,  a  stone  building 
thirty  by  fifty  feet;  Sharp  &  Oakley’s  brick  front  building 
adjoining  the  Methodist  church  on  Pinckney  street,  twenty- 
three  by  thirty-four  feet,  two  stories ;  Draper’s  meat  market, 
corner  of  Miffln  and  Hamilton  streets,  brick,  twenty-two  by 
forty  feet;  W.  J.  Sullivah’s  extension  to  his  block  on  Pinck¬ 
ney  street;  T.  O’Neill’s  Hotel  near  depot  of  Milwaukee  and 
St.  Paul  Railroad,  two  story  brick;  Geo.  Fess,  stone  barn  in 
rear  of  his  boarding  house,  thirty-five  by  thirty  feet,  two  sto¬ 
ries  brick,  and  a  large  number  of  framed  dwelling  houses;  S. 
Mills,  two  story  brick  store  on  Main  street,  near  the  old  post- 
office. 

A  meeting  was  held  on  the  16th  of  August  to  organize  an 
association,  to  be  known  as  the  “  Wisconsin  Academy  of  Arts 
and  Sciences.”  Nothing  however  was  done  until  the  year  1870, 
when  it  was  organized  under  a  charter  by  act  of  legislature,  ap¬ 
proved  March  16  of  that  year. 

The  following  statistics  in  part,  in  regard  to  the  railroad 
business  of  Madison  station  during  the  j^ear  1867,  indicates 


318  HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 

something  of  the  amount  of  business  transacted.  Milwaukee 
and  Prairie  du  Chien  Railroad:  Total  tonnage  east,  16,495,610 
lbs;  west,  5,415,070  lbs;  of  this  amount  were  232,904  bushels 
wheat,  and  386,500  lbs.  dressed  hogs  sent  east.  Merchandise 
sent  west,  2,143,200  lbs,  and  agricultural  implements,  866,810. 
Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railroad  —  sent  east,  279,167  bush, 
wheat  and  638,800  lbs  dressed  hogs. 

In  these  statements  are  omitted  minor  details  of  shipments. 

On  the  12th  September,  1867,  the  Rev.  Henby  W.  Spald¬ 
ing,  of  Evansville,  Ind.,  was  invited  by  the  Vestry  to  the 
charge  of  Grace  church,  and  he  entered  upon  the  duties  on  the 
10th  of  November  following. 

In  the  year  1868  the  basement  of  the  church  building  was 
floored,  plastered,  and  put  in  complete  order  for  Sunday  school 
and  evening  services,  at  an  expense  of  $1,874.49,  and  in  the 
following  year  the  old  brick  building  erected  in  1850,  and  lat¬ 
terly  used  as  a  chapel  and  Sunday  school  room,  was  taken 
down. 

In  1868,  the  Governor  of  the  State,  in  his  message  to  the 
Legislature,  January  14,  1869,  states  that  the  rotunda  of  the 
State  Capitol  is  now  completed,  and  that  a  contract  was  en¬ 
tered  into  in  May,  1868,  with  C.  S.  Rankin  &  Co.,  of  Cincin¬ 
nati,  Ohio,  for  the  erection  of  the  dome  for  the  sum  of  $90,000, 
the  work  to  be  completed  on  or  before  December  1,  1869.  He 
also  states,  that  when  the  dome  is  finished,  the  capitol  will 
have  cost  $528,315.60. 

The  following  account  of  the  internal  arrangements  of  the 
State  Capitol,  is  taken  from  the  “  Legislative  Manual:” 

u  The  present  capitol  exhibits  an  attractive  outside  appear¬ 
ance,  and  is  generally  admired.  The  stone  for  its  construction 
was  supplied  from  quarries  near  Prairie  du  Chien  and  Madison. 
The  inside  is  handsomely  finished,  and  contains  complete  con¬ 
veniences;  although  more  are  yet  necessary.  In  the  basement 
are  the  water  closets;  boiler  room,  from  which  the  building  re¬ 
ceives  heat;  carpenter  shops;  book  room;  the  roost  of  the  war 
eagles,  u  Old  Abe  ”  and  “  Andy  ”  and  some  committee  rooms. 
On  the  upper  floor,  the  four  passages  of  which  are  neatly  laid 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN, 


319 


with  squares  of  blue  and  white  flag,  are  the  departments  of  the 
several  state  officers.  In  the  north  passage  are  the  offices  of 
the  State  Treasurer  and  School  Land  Commissioners;  in  the 
south  passage  the  offices  of  the  Superintendents  of  Public 
Property  and' of  Public  Instruction  and  the  office  of  Attorney 
'General;  in  the  east  passage  the  offices  of  the  Governor  and 
Secretary  of  State,  and  in  the  west  passage  those  of  the  Adju¬ 
tant  General,  legislative  clerks  and  State  Agricultural  Society, 
the  last  of  which  contains  some  fine  specimens  of  minerals  and 
other  scientific  curiosities.  From  the  centre  of  these  passages 
the  rotunda  and  dome  are  seen  to  a  great  advantage.  The  sec¬ 
ond  floor  is  reached  by  wide  iron  stairways,  ascending  from  the 
south  and  north  passages.  This  floor  is  diversely  laid  with  red, 
yellow  and  black  tiles,  and  in  the  centre  a  heavy  iron  ballus- 
trade  marks  the  rotunda.  In  the  east  is  the  Senate  Cham¬ 
ber;  in  the  west,  the  Assembly  Chamber;  in  thp  north,  the  Su¬ 
preme  Court  Rooms  and  State  Library,  and  in  the  south,  the 
-choicely  filled  rooms  of  the  State  Historical  Society.  The  first 
purchase  of  books  for  the  State  Library  was  made  in  1837,  and 
it  has  received  additions  since,  which  make  it  very  complete  and 
valuable.  The  Historical  Society  rooms,  always  attractive  to 
visitors,  present  an  array  of  books,  pictures,  sculpture  and  lit¬ 
erary  and  other  curiosities  which  are  not  only  interesting  and 
suggestive  to  Badgers,  but  to  residents  of  other  states.  In  one 
of  these  rooms,  the  torn  and  pierced  flags  carried  by  Wisconsin 
regiments  during  the  late  war,  are  carefully  preserved  in  a 
glass  enclosure,  and  in  another  room  is  a  rare  collection  of  ani¬ 
mal,  mineral  and  vegetable  curiosities  belonging  to  Mr.  Isaac 
Lyon,  father  of  Judge  Lyon,  of  the  supreme  court,  and  the 
greatest  delight  of  this  courteous  gentleman  is  to  give  all  visi¬ 
tors  information  concerning  them. 

“  The  collection  in  these  rooms  have  for  years  past  been  re¬ 
garded  as  very  creditable  to  the  State,  and  to  Hon.  Lyman  C. 
Draper,  the  patient  and  persevering  originator  of  them.  Mr. 
D.  S.  Durrie,  the  Librarian,  has  held  that  office  since  January 
1,  1856,  and  has  taken  an  active  part  in  the  management  to  the 
present  time.  Since  the  Chicago  fire  destroyed  the  histori- 


320 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


cal  depository  there,  these  collections  can  be  recognized  as 
the  largest  and  most  valuable  in  the  Northwest. 

“  More  iron  stairways  lead  to  the  galleries  and  committee 
rooms  of  the  chambers,  and  yet  more,  but  narrower  ones,  lead 
to  the  store  room  where  the  arms  and  munitions  of  the  state 
are  kept  and  to  the  tholus;  from  which  topmost  elevation 
impressive  downward  view  of  the  whole  rotunda  is  obtained. 
The  outside  of  the  tholus  affords  convenience  for  enjoying  an 
an  exceedingly  fine  view  of  the  city,  lakes  and  surrounding 
country. 

“The  height  of  the  Capitol  from  the  basement  to  the  gold 
gilt  eagle  on  the  top  of  the  flag-staff  is  225  feet  and  six  inches, 
and  exclusive  of  steps  and  porticos,  the  total  length  of  the 
north  and  south  wings  is  228  feet,  and  of  the  east  and  west 
wings,  226  feet. 

“  Some  impressive  scenes  have  been  witnessed  in  this  Capitol 
during  the  war,  when  the  legislature  were  acting  on  war  meas¬ 
ures,  and  also  when  the  veteran  soldiers,  on  their  return,  were 
welcomed  with  song  and  feasting  in  the  chambers. 

“  As  characteristic  of  the  vim  and  energy  of  the  residents  of 
Wisconsin,  it  must  be  stated  that  the  Capitol  building  pro¬ 
gressed  and  heavy  expenditures  were  made  on  it,  while  they 
were  sharply  pressed  to  raise  their  share  of  men  and  means  for 
the  war. 

“  The  Capitol  is  surrounded  with  walks,  greenswards,  shrub¬ 
bery  and  trees,  which  are  carefully  kept  in  good  condition,  and 
these,  with  the  pearly  white  building  rising  in  their  midst, 
elicit  the  general  expression  that  Wisconsin  has  a  choicely  lo¬ 
cated  and  elegant  Capitol.” 

The  election  of  city  officers  took  place  on  the  7th  of 
April,  at  which  time  David  Atwood*  received  859  votes  for 

*Gen.  David  Atwood  was  born  at  Bedford,  New  Hampshire,  December 
15,  1815.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  he  removed  to  Hamilton,  Madison 
county,  New  York,  and  commenced  work'  at  a  printer’s  case.  After  he 
became  a  master  of  his  craft,  he  traveled  extensively  through  the  southern 
and  western  states  for  nearly  three  years,  most  of  which  time  he  was 
engaged  in  the  printing  business.  In  1839  he  returned  to  Hamilton,  New 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


321 


Mayor,  and  Wm.  T.  Leitch  853  votes,  the  former  was  elected^ 
For  Treasurer,  Jas.  Conklin  received  1,016  votes,  and  Chas> 
Hammer  684;  Mr.  Conklin’s  majority  332.  For  Police  Justice^ 
J.  R.  Baltzell  received  897  votes,  and  J.  C.  McKenney  807; 
Mr.  Baltzell’s  majority  90.  The  following  were  elected' 
Aldermen:  First  ward,  S.  Engel  and  A.  McGovern;  Second 
ward,  R.  Wootton  and  H.  Steensland;  Third  ward,  Ole 
Thompson  and  P.  B.  Kissam;  and  Fourth  ward,  L.  D.  Stone 
and  A.  S.  Frank. 

On  the  27th.  of  May,  the  corner  stone  of  the  new  United-1 
States  Court  House  was  laid  with  appropriate  Masonic  cere¬ 
monies,  by  the  officers  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Wisconsin. 
Addresses  were  made  by  Gov.  Fairchild,  President  P.  A. 
Chadbourne  and  others. 

On  the  31st  of  May,  the  German  Lutheran  church,  on  Wash- 
ington  avenue  and  West  Canal  street,  was  dedicated.  This 
church  was  organized  in  1856,  and  in  1858  the  congregation^ 
built  a  small  meeting  house  on  Main  street,  near  the  depot 
of  the  Milwaukee  and  Prairie  du  Chien  Railroad.  This  build-' 
ing  was  occupied  by  them  until  the  last  year,  when  the  present 
edifice  was  erected.  It  is  32  by  60  feet,  20  feet  high,  with  a 
belfry.  The  building  is  wood  and  cost  about  $3,000.  At  the 
dedication  service,  Prof.  S.  Fritschell  of  St.  Sebald,  Iowa,; 
Rev.  J.  Hauser  of  Cottage  Grove,  and  Rev.  H.  Vogel,  the" 
Pastor,  delivered  addresses. 

York,  and  commenced  the  publication  of  a  weekly  newspaper  called  the 
Palladium ,  in  conjunction  with  his  brother.  In  1859  came  to  the  wesb 
and  located  a  farm  near  the  city  of  Freeport,  Illinois,  which  he  soon  after 
disposed  of,  and  removed  to  Madison,  Wisconsin.  He  became  connected 
with  the  Madison  Express  and  remained  with  it  until  the  fall  of  1852, 
when  he  commenced  the  publication  of  the  Daily  State  Journal ,  which  he 
has  ever  since  published ;  in  its  early  management  he  was  associated" 
with  Hon.  Horace  Rublee,  now  United  States  Minister  to  Switzerland. 

Gen.  Atwood  was  a  member  of  the  legislature  in  i860,  and  was  appointed^ 
United  States  Assessor  when  that  office  was  first  created.  In  1868  he  held 
the  office  of  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Madison.  On  the  decease  of  Hon.  B.  F- 
Hopkins,  Member  of  Congress,  Gen.  Atwood  was  elected  to  fill  his  unex¬ 
pired  term  of  office. 


322 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


There*  was  no  celebration  of  the  national  anniversary  by  the 
civil  authorities  this  year.  There  was  a  large  gathering  of 
people  from  the  country  to  attend  a  circus  performance.  The 
patriotism  of  the  day  seemed  confined  to  the  younger  portion  of 
the  community,  who  indulged  largely  in  fire  crackers  and 
small  artillery. 

The  City  Assessor  published  in  August,  a  statement  of  the 
valuation  of  taxable  property  as  follows:  Real  estate,  $2,733,179; 
personal  property,  $1,356,745.67,  being  an  increase  of  one  mil¬ 
lion  of  dollars  since  the  last  year. 

The  report  of  the  Board  of  Education,  for  1868,  shows  the 
whole  number  of  persons  of  school  age,  3,485;  whole  number 
enrolled  since  September  2,  1867,  2,087.  The  expenses  of  the 
city  schools  for  the  year  were,  $34,815.58,  which  amount  was 
for  school  furniture,  repairs,  supplies  and  teachers’  salaries. 

The  amount  of  taxes  levied  for  city,  state,  county  and  school 
purposes  this  year,  was  $88,412.81;  in  addition  to  which  is 
$6,000  indebtedness  to  Madison  Driving  Park  Association,  and 
a  bonus  to  the  Milwaukee  and  Prairie  du  Chien  Railroad  of 
$25,000,  for  the  completion  of  the  road  from  Madison  to  Sun 
Prairie,  making  the  whole  amount  $119,412.81  —  a  tax  of  two 
and  eight  tenths  per  cent,  on  the  valuation. 

Jas.  M.  Sumner,  this  year,  raised  a  three  story  building  on 
Main  street,  between  Pinckney  and  Henry  streets,  22  by  132 
feet,  and  Simeon  Mills  erected  a  fine  block  of  stores  on  Main 
.street,  66  feet  by  80,  on  the  site  of  his  former  residence. 

The  following  exhibit  shows  the  gross  amount  of  sales  of 
the  leading  business  firms  in  the  city  of  Madison,  as  returned 
to  Assessor  Main,  for  the  year  ending  April  30,  1868.  None 
are  included  whose  sales  have  not  exceeded  $25,000.  Consider¬ 
ing  the  great  depression  in  the  value  of  merchandise  the  past 
year,  and  especially  in  dry  goods  and  clothing,  this  list  is  a 
very  creditable  one,  and  in  the  aggregate  quite  largely  exceeds 
the  sales  of  1866-7,  and  especially  so  in  agricultural  imple¬ 
ments,  the  sales  in  this  department  reaching  $900,000,  none 
.of  which  were  manufactured  here  except  those  sold  by  E.  W. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


323 


Skinner  &  Co.  Deputy  Assessor  Main  estimates  the  aggre¬ 
gate  of  sales  during  the  year  in  the  city  at  $3,500,000: 


S.  L.  Sheldon  &  Bro.,  agricultural  implements,  -  -  -  $350, 000 

M.  E.  Fuller  &  Co.,  agricultural  implements,  -  -  -  345, 000 

S.  Klauber  &  Co.,  dry  goods  and  clothing,  ...  -  260,300 

J.  Lenz  &  Co.,  dry  goods  and  clothing,  ....  127,000 

Alex.  Findley,  groceries  and  drugs, .  105,200 

S.  Klauber,  King  street,  groceries, .  95, 500 

Wayne  Ramsay  &  Co.,  hardware, .  95,009 

Dunning  &  Sumner,  groceries  and  drugs,  ....  93, 500 

L.  P.  &  M.  P,  Jerdee,  agricultural  implements,  -  -  -  87,000 

McKey  Bros.  &  G.  H.  Folds,  dry  goods,  ....  73, 300 

John  N.  Jones,  hardware, .  68,300 

J.  L.  Bartels,  dry  goods, .  52,  OOo 

H.  Steensland,  groceries, .  46,000 

W.  J.  &  F.  Ellsworth,  groceries, .  45, 000 

J.  W.  Sumner  &  Co.,  groceries  and  drugs,  nine  months,  -  -  45,000 

Geo.  Paine,  groceries  and  drugs, . 41,000 

M.  L.  Daggett,  groceries, .  39,000 

Huntley  &  Taft  (now  G.  W.  Huntley)  groceries,  -  '  -  36,000 

Moseley  &  Bro.,  books, .  36, 000 

E.  B.  Crawford,  clothing, .  45,000 

M.  Friend,  clothing,  .  42, 090 

J.  M.  Dickinson,  dry  goods,  -------  42, 000 

Gray  &  Co.,  coal,  salt,  etc., .  50,000 

E.  W.  Skinner  &  Co.,  agricultural  implements,  -  -  -  60,000 


The  city  election  of  1869,  came  off  April  9.  There  was  no 
regularly  nominated  candidate  for  Mayor  made  by  the  Bepub- 
licans.  The  vote  for  that  office  was  1,350  for  Andrew  Proud- 
fit,  *  and  145  for  Elisha  Burdick.  For  Treasurer  Frank 

*  Hon.  Andrew  Proudflt,  was  born  in  Argyle,  Washington  county,  New 
York,  in  August,  1820.  He  came  to  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin  in  June, 
1842,  and  took  possession  of  some  lands  in  Brookfield,  then  in  Milwaukee 
county  on  the  Rock  river  canal  reservation,  which  was  not  then  in  the 
market.  He  cleared  60  acres  for  cultivation,  part  of  which  was  heavy  tim¬ 
ber,  set  out  an  orchard  and  built  a  barn.  This  property  he  sold  in  1847. 
Mr.  Proudfit  removed  to  Milwaukee,  and  was  bookkeeper  for  Shepard  & 
Bonnell  from  1844  1°  J846.  He  then  went  to  Delafield,  where  he  improved 
a  large  tract  of  land  and  built  a  mill.  He  carried  on  a  large  business  at 


324 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


Massing  received  714  votes,  and  Willam  Habich  784,  who  was 
elected  by  70  majority.  The  aldermen  elected  were,  Geo.  An¬ 
derson  and  D.  K.  Tenney,  1st  ward;  M.  T.  Bailey  and  A.  R. 
Jones,  2d  ward;  H.  Winckler  and  J.  M.  Bowman,  3d  ward; 

U 

Peter  Young  and  Simon  Foren,  4tl  ward.  Hon.  L.  S.  Dixon 
received  1011  votes  for  Judge  of  Supreme  Court,  and  Geo.  E. 
Bryant  1018  votes  for  County  Judge. 

The  expenses  of  the  city  for  the  past  year  were  $26,919.26, 
and  the  bonded  indebtedness  $254,000  —  The  assessed  value  of 
personal  property,  $3,839,502. 

In  the  month  of  May,  the  section  of  railroad  between  Madi¬ 
son  and  Sun  Prairie  was  finished,  thereby  shortening  the  dist¬ 
ance  to  Milwaukee  twenty  miles,  and  bringing  Madison  in  con¬ 
nection  with  Watertown  and  points  east.  The  first  passenger 
train  arrived  here  from  Milwaukee  May  22. 

that  place  for  six  years.  In  1852  he  was  elected  Commissioner  of  the  Fox 
and  Wisconsin  River  Improvement,  and  was  re-elected  in  1853.  During 
that  year  the  works  were  transferred  by  the  State  to  a  stock  company,  and 
he  closed  the  business  and  was  engaged  the  remainder  of  that  season  in 
building  three  miles  of  the  Milwaukee  and  Watertown  railroad,  under  a 
sub-contract.  In  the  year  1854,  he  built  the  south  wing  of  the  State  Prison 
at  Waupun,  and  completed  the  same  in  October  of  that  year.  In  Novem¬ 
ber,  1854,  he  took  the  contract  for  building  the  State  Lunatic  Asylum  at 
Madison,  and  had  expended  over  $19,000  on  the  same,  when  the  Legisla¬ 
ture  repudiated  the  contract.  By  act  of  the  legislature  the  matter  was 
settled  by  a  board  of  arbitrators.  In  1855  he  disposed  of  his  unsold  prop¬ 
erty  at  Delafield  by  exchange  with  Beriah  Brown  of  Madison.  In  the 
year  1858  and  1859  he  represented  the  Madison  district  in  the  State  Sen¬ 
ate.  In  1864,  he  built  the  north  wing  of  the  State  Capitol,  and  laid  the 
foundation  to  the  rotunda  and  south  wing.  In  the  year  1867  he  built  and 
completed  the  last  two  wings  of  the  State  Lunatic  Asylum  at  Madison. 
In  the  spring  of  1869,  he  was  elected  Maj'or  of  the  city,  and  was  re-elected 
in  1870  by  large  majorities.  During  the  war  he  had  a  number  of  contracts 
for  subsistence  and  other  supplies  for  Wisconsin  soldiers.  He  has  also 
been  connected  with  one  of  the  largest  agricultural  implement  houses 
in  the  State  since  1862. 

Mr.  Proudfit  is  Vice  President  of  the  First  National  Bank  in  Madi¬ 
son,  and  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  successful  business  men 
in  the  city. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


325 


The  Roman  Catholic  Church,  known  as  the  “  Church  of  the 
Holy  Redeemer,”  was  formally  dedicated  on  the  22d  of  May  by 
Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Heuni.  The  exercises  were  very  impressive, 
twelve  priests  assisted  in  the  service.  This  church  was  organ¬ 
ized  in  1855  with  some  forty  families,  and  has  at  this  date  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  members.  The  building  is  of  Madison 
stone,  125  feet  long,  52  feet  wide  and  40  feet  high.  The  main 
audience  room  is  30  feet  at  the  sides,  and  36  feet  at  the  top  of 
the  arched  ceiling  in  height,  tower  160  feet  high.  The  cost  of 
the  building  is  about  $25,000.  In  the  afternoon  the  Bishop  ad¬ 
ministered  the  right  of  confirmation  to  102  persons.  During 
a  severe  storm  in  the  year  1874,  the  steeple  was  so  much  in¬ 
jured  as  to  require  its  removal;  a  new  and  more  architectural 
one  is  to  be  erected. 

The  anniversary  of  National  Independence  was  not  formally 
observed  by  the  citizens  or  authorities.  Celebrations  were  held 
at  Mazomaine  and  Middleton  station  in  this  county.  The  an¬ 
niversary  this  year  came  on  Sunday,  and  as  a  consequence  Sat- 
turday,  Sunday  and  Monday  were  more  or  less  observed  by  the 
different  nationalities  as  a  holiday  on  Saturday,  the  Dane 
County  Stock  Association  had  a  fair,  which,  with  races  adver¬ 
tized  in  connection  with  it,  drew  a  large  crowd.  The  sermons 
by  the  city  clergymen  on  the  4th,  were  of  a  highly  patriotic 
character. 

We  do  not  find  notices  of  as  many  improvements  in  the  city 
this  year  as  some  others.  Billings  &  Firmin'  built  their  Mad¬ 
ison  Plow  Factory  on  Webster  street,  of  stone,  two  stories 
in  height,  50  by  66  feet.  This  establishment  has  been  very 
successful  and  the  excellence  of  their  plows  has  achieved  for 
them  a  wide  reputation. 

The  small  brick  chapel  on  Washington  avenue,  which  had 
been  occupied  by  the  P.  Episcopal  Church  as  a  house  of  wor¬ 
ship,  was  demolished  in  the  summer. 

From  the  report  of  the  Board  of  Education  for  1869,  it  ap¬ 
pears  that  the  city  schools  afforded  facilities  for  1125  pupils  — 
the  whole  number  of  students  enrolled  since  September  2, 
1868,*  2,080.  Students  in  attendance  at  the  making  of  the  re- 


326 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


port,  969.  Number  of  children  of  school  age,  3,640.  The  Su¬ 
perintendent  of  Schools  refers  to  the  necessity  of  the  immediate 
erection  of  the  University  Avenue  school  house,  which  had 
been  prominently  brought  before  the  public. 

Simeon  Mills  erected  this  year  one  of  the  finest  residences 
in  the  city,  on  Wisconsin  Avenue,  near  Lake  Monona,  66  feet 
on  the  avenue  and  75  deep,  of  cream  colored  brick,  with 
Mansard  roof,  etc. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


327 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Efforts  to  Remote  the  State  Capital  —  Notice  of  Col.  Bird  — 
History  of  Grace  Church,  continued  —  Park  Hotel  Com¬ 
pany  —  University  Ward  School  House  —  “  State  Journal  ,r 
Reminiscences  —  Public  Improvements,  1870-4  —  Female  Col- 
lege — Schools  —  National  Anniversary  —  Railroad  Enter¬ 
prises —  The  Messersmith  House — Yacht  and  Boat  Clubs  — 
Notice  of  John  Stoner  —  Presbyterian  Church  Improve¬ 
ments —  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  —  Artesian  Well  — 
High  School  Building  —  Elections,  1870^4  —  Grace  Church 
Chimes  —  Congregational  Church  Building  —  Dane  Countv 
Cave  —  Conclusion. 

At  the  session  of  the  State  Legislature,  held  in  1870,  a  vig¬ 
orous  effort  was  made  by  the  citizens  of  Milwaukee  to  remove 
the  seat  of  government  from  Madison  to  Milwaukee.  Similar 
efforts  had  been  made  from  the  very  first  session  of  the  Terri¬ 
torial  Legislature,  in  1836.  On  the  19th  of  February  (1870),  a 
hill  was  introduced  for  this  purpose,  and  referred  to  the  com¬ 
mittee  on  State  Affairs,  which  was  reported  back  unfavorably. 
In  the  report,  the  committee  referred  to  the  want  of  hotel  ac¬ 
commodations  for  the  large  number  of  persons  visiting  the 
capital  during  the  sessions  of  the  Legislature,  but  saw  no  good 
reasons,  after  the  State  had  expended  so  large  an  amount  in  the 
erection  of  the  present  building,  to  make  a  change.  On  the 
28th  of  February,  a  memorial  was  received  from  the  citizens  of 
Milwaukee,  making  a  formal  tender  to  the  State,  and  free  occu¬ 
pancy  of  the  extensive  and  costly  buildings  now  in  process  of 
erection  for  the  County  Court  House,  to  be  constructed  in  their 
interior  arrangements  under  the  supervision  of  the  State;  the 
property  occupying  the  whole  of  block  71  in  the  city  of  Mil¬ 
waukee.  To  this  memorial  the  Board  of  Supervisors  assented- 
The  bill  in  the  Assembly  came  up  for  action  on  the  evening 
of  March  9,  in  committee  of  the  whole,  when  a  long  and  ex¬ 
citing  debate  took  place  on  the  merits  of  the  proposed  removal. 
The  bill  was  reported  back  to  the  Assembly,  with  an  amend-* 


328 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


ment  striking  out  all  after  the  enacting  clause,  when  a  motion 
was  made  that  the  bill  be  indefinitely  postponed,  which  mo¬ 
tion  prevailed,  the  vote  being  55  in  the  affirmative  and  31  in 
the  negative. 

Soon  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Legislature,  a  meeting 
was  called  of  the  prominent  citizens  of  the  city  to  organize 
the  “  Park  Hotel  *  Company,”  which  was  chartered  by  an  act 
of  the  Legislature,  approved  March  18.  Several  meetings 
were  held,  and  propositions  made  for  a  site  for  the  proposed 
building.  The  lots  on  the  southeast  corner  of  the  public 
square,  corner  of  Carroll  and  Main  streets,  were  purchased  of 
LL  W.  Dean",  Esq.,  the  company  organized,  and  stock  sub¬ 
scribed  to  an  amount  sufficient  to  erect  the  building.  The 
work  was  commenced  and  continued  during  the  winter,  and 
the  house  ready  for  occupancy  in  1871.  A  description  of  this 
elegant  building  will  hereafter  be  given. 

On  the  25th  of  February,  1870,  one  of  the  first  and  most 
noted  settlers  of  Madison  paid  the  debt  of  nature.  On  that 
.day,  Col.  Augustus  A.  Bird  died  very  suddenly  at  the  residence 
of  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  Johh  Starkweather,  in  Green  Bay,  in 
the  68th  year  of  his  age.  He  was  apparently  in  good  health 
and  had,  less  than  an  hour  before,  walked  home  from  town, 
and  was  sitting  at  the  table,  when  his  head  suddenly  dropped 
forward,  and  he  was  dead.  He  is  supposed  to  have  died  from 
the  effects  of  cancers,  of  which  he  had  several  near  the  heart. 

Col.  Bird  was  born  on  the  1st  day  of  April,  1802,  in  the 
State  of  Vermont.  His  mother  was  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Bur- 
,<iOyne,  who  was  a  nephew  of  Gen.  Burgoyne,  of  the  British 
army.  When  three  years  of  age,  Mr.  Bird’s  father,  with  his 
family,  moved  from  Vermont,  and  settled  in  Madison  county, 
N.  Y.  In  April,  1821,  he  was  married,  in  the  town  of  West¬ 
moreland,  N.  Y.,  to  Miss  Charity  Le  Clar,  who  was  a 
daughter  of  Louis  Le  Clar,  a  Frenchman.  In  1826,  Mr. 
Bird  moved  with  his  family  to  Ann  Arbor,  Mich.,  where  he 
remained  over  two  years,  and  moved  back  to  Madison  county, 
3L  Y. 

In  1836,  he  located  at  Milwaukee,  and  there  engaged  ener- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


329 


getically  in  the  business  of  building.  He  was  appointed  one  of 
the  three  commissioners  for  the  erection  of  the  Territorial 
Capitol  at  Madison,  and  was  the  active  and  efficient  man  of 
the  Board.  Oh  the  first  day  of  June,  1837,  Col.  Bird,  at  the 
head  of  about  forty  workmen,  and  a  train  of  four  wagons, 
loaded  with  provisions,  tools,  and  other  articles  essential  in 
commencing  a  new  settlement,  started  for  The  Four  Lakes,” 
the  present  site  of  Madison.  There  was  then  no  road,  and 
the  party  were  obliged  to  make  one  for  themselves.  By  the 
aid  of  an  old  map  and  compass,  by  perseverance  and  energy, 
Col.  Bird  and  his  party  were  enabled  to  pursue  their  route, 
chopping  their  way  through  the  forests,  building  long  cordu¬ 
roy  roads  over  swamps,  and  fording  or  bridging  streams. 

As  a  more  particular  account  has  been  given  in  the  former 
part  of  this  volume  of  this  journey  to  Madison,  and  the  inci¬ 
dents  connected  with  the  history  of  the  building  of  the  u  old 
capitol,”  it  is  not  necessary  to  be  repeated. 

In  1851  and  1856,  he  was  chosen  to  represent  the  Madison 
district  in  the  legislature,  and  served  the  city  as  one  of  its  ear¬ 
liest  Mayors,  and  became  well  known  to  all  early  prominent 
men  of  the  Territory  and  State.  In  the  prime  of  life,  he  was  a 
man  of  much  energy,  and  was  w^ell  fitted  by  his  har¬ 
dihood  of  character  for  a  pioneer.  He  passed  through  many 
hardships  and  privations.  Long  will  his  tall,  commanding 
form  be  remembered.  We  trust  that  his  old  pioneer  associates 

will  see  that  a  portrait  of  him  is  secured  and  preserved  in  the 

• 

gallery  of  the  Historical  Society.  Colonel  Bird  leaves  a  wife, 
also  several  children,  who  have  reached  mature  years  and  in  dif¬ 
ferent  walks  of  life  —  three  sons  in  connection  with  newspapers 
in  this  State  and  elsewhere,  have  attained  positions  of  useful¬ 
ness  and  prominence. 

At  a  meeting  of  Grace  church,  held  on  the  28th  of  February, 
1870,  it  was  resolved  to  proceed  as  soon  as  practicable  to  the 
completion  of  the  tower  and  steeple  of  the  church;  and  at  a 
subsequent  meeting,  a  building  committee  was  appointed,  con¬ 
sisting  of  Messrs.!).  Worthington,  A.  Proudfit  and  W.  T. 
Leitch. 


22 


330 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


The  funds  for  this  purpose  were  soon  after  raised,  and  the 
work  was  finished  during  the  year,  and  the  building  made  com¬ 
plete  by  a  graceful  spire  165  feet  in  height.  The  subsequent 
history  of  this  church  to  the  year  1874  is  as  follows: 

In  the  summer  of  1872,  the  church  was  thoroughly  reno¬ 
vated,  the  walls  replastered  and  painted;  the  pulpit  removed,, 
and  a  new  one  put  in  its  place,  the  pews  varnished  and  the 
aisles  newly  carpeted. 

On  the  10th  of  February,  1873,  the  rector  Rev.  Dr.  Spald¬ 
ing*  having  been  invited  to  another  field  of  labor,  tendered  his 
resignation,  which  was  accepted  with  deep  regret. 

In  his  farewell  discourse  he  gave  some  statistics  of  the  church, 
and  of  his  labors  in  the  vicinity,  which  are  here  given  for  pres¬ 
ervation  : 

“  He  entered,  he  said,  upon  his  duties  as  their  Rector  on  the 
10th  of  November,  1867,  and  found,  as  the  results  of  previous 
labor  and  faith,  the  church  with  its  organ  and  furniture,  though 
without  a  tower  or  spire,  or  its  present  commodious  Sunday 
school  rooms. 

tl  The  Parish  Register,  dated  from  une  13, 1852,  and  reported 
up  to  the  time  of  his  rectorship  —  15  years : 

“Baptisms — Infants,  272,  adults,  41;  total,  313,  or  an  average 
of  more  than  20  a  year.  Of  these,  some  were  administered  at 
Blooming  Grove,  some  at  Vienna,  a  number  at  Middleton,  and 
a  large  number  are  recorded  as  private. 

*Rev.  Henry  W.  Spalding,  D.  D.,  is  a  son  of  Rev.  Erastus  Spalding  of 
Western  New  York,  and  was  born  at  Rochester,  April  14,  1832. 

He  was  graduated  at  Hobart  College,  Seneca,  in  1855,  and  removed  to 
Milwaukee,  and  was  nearly  six  years  in  charge  of  the  6th  Ward  School 
as  Principal,  prosecuting  his  studies  for  the  ministry  under  J.  P.  T.  In¬ 
graham.  In  1858,  he  was  made  a  Deacon,  and  took  charge  of  the  Mis¬ 
sion  church  in  Milwaukee  He  removed  to  Janesville;  was  ordained 
President  and  took  charge  of  Christ  church  at  that  place.  After  a  resi¬ 
dence  of  five  years,  he  traveled  one  year,  and  was  subsequently  at  White- 
water  and  at  Evansville,  Ind.,  where  he  labored  three  years.  He  accepted 
the  call  to  Grace  church,  and  entered  on  his  duties  November  10, 1867. 
He  resigned  February  10,  1873,  and  is  now  settled  at  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  In 
July,  1870,  he  received  from  his  college  at  Seneca,  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Divinity. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


331 


“The  Confirmations  are:  Men,  21;  women,  103;  total,  124 — 
an  average  of  a  little  more  than  eight  a  year;  some  from  Mid¬ 
dleton  and  some  from  Windsor.  Marriages  during  that  time, 
124;  burials,  142. 

“  The  Communion  Alms  amount  to  $3,451.41,  an  average  from 
1855  to  1867  of  $245  per  year. 

“  He  regretted  the  imperfect  record  and  loss  of  papers  concern¬ 
ing  the  work  of  his  predecessors,  and  said  that  much  in  the  past, 
of  self  denial  and  earnest  hard  work  for  Christ  would  be  lost  till 
the  great  day  shall  make  manifest  the  deeds  of  God’s  servants. 

“  The  summary,  he  continued,  of  our  five  years’  work  together 
is  as  follows : 

“Baptisms — of  infants,  202;  adults,  106;  total,  308;  an  aver¬ 
age  of  a  little  less  than  60  a  year.  Confirmations,  270;  13  of 
which  were  at  Vienna;  7  at  Middleton;  and  23  at  Evansville ;  55 
were  males.  Marriages,  49.  Burials,  64.  Communicants,  260 
or  270.  Families  about  120.  Offertory,  $12,680.68;  expenses, 
about  $15,000;  the  other  moneys  received,  making  a  total  of 
$30,000.  Five  missions  have  been  built  up.  Five  clergymen 
have  taken  orders,  and  six  are  now  candidates  for  orders.  There, 
are  three  working  organizations  under  the  Diocesan  Board  of 
Missions.” 

June  19,  1873,  the  Vestry  unanimously  resolved  to  call  Rev- 
John  Wilkinson,  of  Chicago,  who  accepted  the  invitation,  and 
entered  upon  his  duties  July  13. 

The  city  election  took  place  April  5,  1870.  There  was  no 
Candidate  put  in  nomination  against  Hon.  Andrew  Proudfit 
for  Mayor,  who  received  1164  votes.  104  votes  scattering. 
For  Police  Justice  D.  C.  Bush  received  487  votes,  and  John  R. 
Baltzell  1067,  who  was  elected  by  580  majority.  For  Treasurer 
Andrew  Pickarts  received  796  votes,  and  P.  D.  Barry,  761. 
Mr.  Pickarts’  majority  35.  The  following  were  the  aldermen 
elected:  1st  ward,  F.  Daubner  and  F.  O’Brien;  2d  ward,. 
W.  Deards  and  A.  Daubner;  3d  ward  J.  M.  Bowman  and  W. 
H.  Karnes;  4th  ward,  James  Ross  and  T.  O’Neil. 

From  the  office  of  United  States  Internal  Revenue  at  Mad¬ 
ison,  it  appears  that  the  sales  of  all  the  dealers  in  agricultural 


332 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


implements  for  the  year  ending  April  1,  1870,  aggregate 
$1,468,000;  the  firm  of  M.  E.  Fuller  &  Co.,  report  sales  to  the 
amount  of  $778,000,  three  firms  return  sales  of  over  $100,000, 
and  the  remainder,  range  from  $10,000  to  $80,000. 

The  United  States  census  was  taken  this  year,  and  we  find 
the  population  of  the  city  reported  as  9,173,  and  the  town  of 
Madison,  857.  The  county  of  Dane  53,109.  The  value  of  city 
property  as  equalized  by  the  county  board  of  supervisors  in 
June,  was,  real  estate,  $2,500,000;  personal,  $1,260,018,  and  the 
town  of  Madison,  $70,000. 

In  connection  with  the  above  statistics  as  illustrating  the 
healthfulness  of  Madison,  the  interments  in  the  u  Forest  Hill 
Cemetery  11  for  the  year  ending  March  31,  1870,  were  seventy- 
one.  Very  few  localities  can  make  so  good  a  report. 

There  was  no  formal  celebration  on  Independence  Day. 
Meetings  were  had  before  that  date  to  make  arrangements  ,for 
a  proper  celebration,  but  subscriptions  were  not  received  to 
warrant  the  carrying  out  the  plan.  There  was,  however,  a  good 
number  of  persons  from  the  country  towns.  The  Zouave  Com¬ 
pany,  recently  organized,  had  a  public  parade  and  drill.  Races 
were  held  at  the  Driving  Park.  Fireworks  at  the  Soldiers1  Or¬ 
phans1  Home.  In  the  afternoon  there  was  a  burlesque  proces¬ 
sion  with  reversed  arms  to  satirize  the  omission  of  a  regular 
celebration. 

Orations  were  delivered  at  the  following  places  by  citizens  of 
Madison:  Oconomowoc,  by  Hon.  Geo.  B.  Smith;  Watertown, 
by  Hon.  H.  S.  Orton;  Portage  City,  by  S.  U.  Pinney,  Esq.; 
Richland  Centre,  by  Hon.  Jas.  Ross. 

From  the  annual  report  of  the  Board  of  Education  for  the 
year  1870,  the  following  statistics  have  been  obtained:  The 
number  of  persons  of  school  age,  3,958.  Number  of  pupils  en¬ 
rolled  from  August  31,  1869,  to  July  18,  1870,  1,992;  present 
number  of  members  956.  The  Board  has  in  its  possession  eight 
school  house  sites,  valued  at  $14,900;  eight  school  buildings 
with  furnaces,  and  seating,  valued  at  not  less  than  $70,000,  with 
a  library,  melodeon,  apparatus,  maps,  globes,  charts  and  books  of 
reference,  valued  at  $700.  During  the  year  the  Board  pur- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


333 


chased  a  site  for  a  school  house  in  the  University  Addition, 
known  as  lots  7,  8  and  9,  in  block  2,  situated  on  the  northwest 
corner  of  Park  and  Johnson  streets,  165  feet  on  the  former  and 
about  240  feet  on  the  latter  street,  at  a  cost  of  one  thousand 
dollars. 

Plans  and  specifications  for  the  building  were  prepared  by  G. 
P.  Randall,  architect,  Chicago;  the  precise  character  of  which 
was  settled  upon  in  February  last.  Immediately  thereafter, 
proposals  for  the  construction  of  the  building  complete  were 
invited  by  the  committee,  and  a  contract  was  made  with  Messrs. 
Fish  &  Stevens  for  the  construction  of  the  building  in  accord¬ 
ance  with  the  plan  and  specifications,  under  the  supervision  of 
H.  N.  Moulton,  Esq.,  to  be  completed  on  or  before  Decem¬ 
ber  25, 1870,  for  the  sum  of  $14,829. 

Work  was  commenced  about  April  1st,  and  pushed  with  such 
vigor,  that  the  greater  part  was’done  about  November  1st. 

The  building  is  60  feet  fronting  on  Johnson  street,  by  40 
feet  deep,  with  front  vestibule  projecting  three  feet  from  the 
line  of  the  building,  and  about  twenty  feet  in  length,  and  rear 
vestibule  for  entrance  and  stairway  16x18  feet. 

The  building  has  four  school  rooms,  each  about  25x34  feet 
and  14  feet  high  —  front  stairway  to  the  second  story  5  feet  4 
inches  wide,  and  rear  stairway  of  about  equal  width.  A  base¬ 
ment  the  full  size  of  the  building,  floored  with  hard  brick,  laid 
in  concrete,  furnishes  room  for  storage  of  fuel,  sufficient  to  sup¬ 
ply  the  three  furnaces  designed  to  warm  the  entire  building, 
and  which  can  be  used  as  play  rooms  in  stormy  weather. 

Special  reference  to  the  suitable  warming  and  complete  ven¬ 
tilation  of  the  school  rooms  was  had  in  view,  and  it  is  believed 
we  have  in  this  building  one  of  the  most  conveniently  arranged 
and  best  ventilated  school  houses  in  the  state,  with  capacity  to 
seat  about  270  pupils.  This  building  was  erected  the  ensuing 
year. 

In  the  “  State  Journal"  of  September  13,  1870,  Gen.  David 
Atwood  gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  history  of  the  pub¬ 
lication  of  that  paper,  it  being  at  that  time  eighteen  years  since 
the  publication  of  the  first  number.  Owing  to  the  length  of 


334 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


the  article,  we  can  only  give  some  extracts:  “  In  1847,  the  of¬ 
fice  was  in  the  basement  of  a  brick  house  that  stood  upon  the 
site  now  occupied  (1870),  by  Moseley  &  Bros.,  F.  D.  Fuller 
and  Geo.  W.  Gilman.  The  house  was  unfinished  at  that  time. 
Between  that  and  the  old  American  Hotel  there  was  nothing; 
and  on  the  site  of  the  present  “  State  Journal  Block,”  which  is 
now  in  the  heart  of  the  business  portion  of  the  city,  there  was 
a  thick  growth  of  native  trees.  Our  next  move  was  into  a 
small  house  that  stood  upon  the  site  where  Bemis’  meat  market 
is  now  standiug.  During  the  year  1850,  Wm.  C.  Wells,  whom 
many  of  our  older  citizens  well  remember,  erected  the  store 
recently  occupied  as  the  postoffice.  It  was  known  as  the 
“  Mammoth  Block”  and  was  considered  in  the  outskirts  of  civi- 
ilization,  in  the  city.  It  was  in  the  woods.  On  the  1st  of 
January,  1851,  we  took  possession  of  the  third  story  of  that 
u  Mammoth  Building,”  and  were  ridiculed  for  having  our  print¬ 
ing  office  out  of  town.  After  occupying  this  position  for  a 
year  and  a  half,  we  had  to  look  for  new  quarters.  Messrs. 
Weed  &  Eberhard  had  just  removed  a  small  one  story  build¬ 
ing  from  King  street  to  the  site  of  Jas.  W.  Sumner’s  new 
store  on  Main  street,  and  were  fitting  it  up  for  a  book  store. 
They  proposed  to  raise  the  roof  and  add  a  second  story  to  this 
building,  provided  we  would  occupy  it  for  a  printing  office.  We 
accepted  the  offer,  and  from  that  little  room,  about  15  feet  by 
30,  and  seven  feet  high,  which  was  used  as  a  composing  room, 
press  room,  business  room,  and  editorial  room,  the  first  number 
of  the  Daily  Journal  was  issued,  eighteen  years  ago. 

In  1853,  “  Bruen’s  Block  ”  was  erected,  and  on  the  1st  day 
of  January,  1854,  the  State  Journal  took  quarters  in  the  fourth 
story,  with  an  editorial  and  business  room  on  the  second  floor. 
In  1857,  a  power  press  was  added  to  the  establishment,  and  oc¬ 
cupied  a  basement  room  on  Washington  avenue  for  its  use.  On 
the  1st  day  of  May,  1860,  the  office  was  located  in  the  block  on 
the  corner  of  Pinckney  and  Mifflin  streets. 

In  September,  1870,  the  office  was  removed,  as  we  trust  per- 
menently,  to  a  stone  block  erected  the  present  season  on  Wash¬ 
ington  avenue,  which  will  hereafter  be  as  known  the  “  State 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


335 


Journal  Block.”  Our  present  rooms  have  been  fitted  up  ex¬ 
pressly  for  our  use,  and  every  thing  has  been  adjusted  with  a 
view  to  make  a  pleasant  and  agreeable  printing  office  in  all  of 
its  appointments. 

The  following  is  a  brief  account  of  the  rooms :  A  basement 
room  for  the  power  presses,  66  by  22  feet,  the  boiler  room  is 
outside,  with  coal  vault,  etc.;  on  the  first  floor,  are  our  business 
rooms,  occupying  20  feet  front,  and  conveniently  fitted  up.  On 
the  second  floor  are  the  editorial  rooms,  large,  light  and  pleas¬ 
ant.  On  the  third  floor  is  the  composing  room  occupying  the 
entire  story,  66  by  60  feet  in  size. 

The  public  improvements  of  Madison  in  1870,  were  numer¬ 
ous  and  valuable.  Fisher  &  Reynolds,  furniture  dealers, 
erected  a  fine  building  of  Edgerton  brick,  on  the  corner  of 
Pinckney  and  Clymer  streets,  44  by  66  feet  and  35  feet  high, 
which  cost  about  $7,000.  Dr.  J.  B.  Bowen  enlarged  his  stone 
block  on  Wisconsin  avenue,  by  an  addition  66  feet  by  60,  three 
stories  high,  to  be  used  in  part  by  Atwood  &  Culver  as  a 
printing  office,  and  is  known  as  the  State  Journal  Block.  Cost 
about  $12,000.  Adjoining  this  block,  J.  N.  Jones  erected  a 
building  22  by  60  feet,  uniform  with  those  connected  with  it, 
making  the  whole  block  154  feet  front  on  Washington  avenue, 
and  60  feet  deep,  three  stories  high. 

Prof.  J.  W.  Sterling  built  a  fine  dwelling  of  Watertown 
brick  on  State  street,  near  the  State  University,  at  a  cost  of 
about  $6,000.  Prof.  S.  H.  Carpenter,  on  block  80,  Wisconsin 
avenue,  built  a  brick  dwelling.  T.  E.  Bird  put  up  a  brick 
building,  22  by  66,  three  stories,  on  Main  street,  costing 
$5,000.  W.  J.  Sullivan’s  block,  on  Carroll  street,  which  was 
destroyed  by  fire  the  year  previous,  was  rebuilt  and  enlarged. 

The  legislature  of  1870,  appropriated  $50,000  for  the  erection 
of  a  Female  College  building  —  the  first  instance  of  an  appro¬ 
priation  by  the  state  for  University  buildings.  With  this 
amount,  the  Regents  have  built,  during  the  year  1871,  a  fine 
stone  structure  50  by  75  feet,  with  a  wing  40  by  87  feet,  all 
three  stories  high,  and  basement.  It  is  provided  with  porticos, 
piazza,  and  ample  halls  and  recitation  rooms ;  the  conveniences 


336 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  ARD  THE 


of  water  distribution,  closets,  furnaces,  laundry,  cooking  rangeT 
etc.  The  basement  arranged  for  domestic  uses.  The  building 
was  entirely  completed,  everything  included,  plans,  specifica¬ 
tions,  wells,  cisterns,  and  building,  at  a  cost  of  $46,570.36, 
leaving  in  the  hands  of  the  treasurer  $3,429.64,  which  has  been 
used  in  partially  providing  suitable  furniture.  The  building 
for  military  drill  and  gymnastic  purposes,  was  completed  this 
year,  as  also  the  laboratory  for  analytical  chemistry  and  metal¬ 
lurgy.  The  University  grounds  have  been  very  much  improved 
by  cleaning  up,  opening  roadways  and  putting  out  trees,  and 
the  older  buildings  have  been  generally  repaired,  painted,  etc. 

The  spring  election  for  city  officers  was  a  spirited  one.  For 
the  office  of  Mayor,  Dr.  James  B.  Bowen*  and  W.  T.  Leitck 
were  opposing  candidates.  The  latter  received  752  votes,  and 
the  former  805,  who  was  elected  by  53  majority.  For  Treasur¬ 
er,  Myron  T.  Bailey  received  713  votes,  and  JohnLeivis,  862;. 
the  latter  had  a  majority  of  149.  The  Aldermen  elected  were: 
Henry  Yilas  and  Jas.  Conklin,  1st  ward;  A.  Daubner  and 
C.  P.  Chapman,  2d  ward;  J.  G.  Ott  and  W.  H.  Karns,  3d 
ward;  Thos.  Dean  and  Estes  Wilson,  4th  ward. 

^  The  assessed  valuation  of  city  property,  as  published  Aug.. 
30,  by  N.  L.  Andrews,  Assessor,  was,  personal  property,, 
$1,328,537;  real  estate,  $2,757,704;  total,  $4,086,241. 

From  the  report  of  the  Board  of  Education,  for  1871,  it  ap¬ 
pears  that  the  whole  number  of  students  enrolled  from  Sep¬ 
tember  5,  1870,  to  July  1,  1871,  was  2,437;  number  in  attend¬ 
ance  at  time  of  making  report,  1,134.  Total  amount  of  ex¬ 
penditures  for  the  year,  $29,149.56.  During  the  year,  a  building 
was  erected  in  the  northeast  district,  of  wood  enclosed  with 

*  Dr.  James  B.  Bowen  is  a  son  of  Jabez  Bowen,  a  native  of  Rhode  Isl¬ 
and.  He  was  born  at  Killingly,  Conn.,  Aug.  19,  1816.  Before  removing 
west  he  was  engaged  in  the  cotton  manufacture,  and  carried  on  mills  at 
Stafford  and  Woodstock,  Conn. ;  Warren,  Mass.,  and  at  Rochester,  N.  Y. 
He  subsequently  studied  medicine,  and  graduated  in  1848,  at  Central  Col¬ 
lege,  and  commenced  practicing  his  profession  at  Providence,  R.  I.,  where 
he  remained  four  years,  when  he  removed  to  Madison,  Wis.,. and  has  made 
it  his  residence  to  the  present  time.  He  was  elected  Mayor  in  the  spring 
of  1871. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


337 


brick  walls,  one  story  high,  26  by  42  feet,  with  school  room  of 
size  to  seat  comfortably  65  scholars,  and  cost  about  $2,300.- 
Extensive  repairs  were  made  on  first  and  third  ward  school- 
houses. 

The  celebration  of  the  4th  of  July,  1871,  was  the  most  sat¬ 
isfactory  one  which  had  taken  place  for  a  number  of  years, 
with  the  exception  of  the  sad  accident  which  cost  the  life  of 
one  of  our  citizens,  the  cause  of  which  was  the  premature  dis¬ 
charge  of  the  gun.  One  of  the  men  in  charge  was  terribly 
mangled,  losing  both  of  his  arms.  The  name  of  the  unfortu¬ 
nate  man  was  John  Bjetz,  one  of  the  employes  of  the  State. 
He  died  the  day  following.  The  following  persons  were  the 
officers  of  the  day:  President,  Hon.  David  Atwood;  Orator  y 
Hon.  Chas.  E.  Dyer,  of  Racine;  Reader,  Col.  W.  F.  Vilas; 
Chaplain,  Rev.  Dr.  H.  W.  Spalding.  The  procession,  under 
direction  of  Hon.  E.  B.  Dean,  with  his  assistants,  passed 
through  the  principal  streets  to  the  park,  where  the  exercises- 
were  held.  In  the  afternoon,  a  yacht  race  came  off  on  Lake 
Monona,  in  which  fifteen  boats  participated ;  and,  subsequently,, 
a  race  between  the  shell  boats  “Lady  Fairchild”  and  “Kegon- 
sa.”  Among  other  amusements,  was  a  tub-race  of  three  six- 
geese  teams;  each  tub  was  enclosed  in  a  snow-shoe-shaped  float, 
and  the  geese  attached  thereto  by  red  ribbons  tied  to  their 
wings.  In  the  evening  a  display  of  fireworks  completed  the 
celebration. 

The  railroad  enterprises  of  this  year  opened  up  to  Madison 
two  new  outlets,  and  to  a  section  of  country  that  had  long 
needed  railroad  facilities.  Through  the  indefatigable  efforts  of 
Hon.  Jas.  Campbell,  the  road  to  Portage  City  was  completed 
the  first  week  in  January,  1871,  and  the  first  train  arrived  here* 
on  the  9th.  This  road  is  proposed  to  be  extended  to  Grand 
Rapids  and  other  points  north  as  soon  as  possible,  and,  in  con¬ 
nection  therewith,  a  road  to  be  built  south  to  the  Illinois  State 
line,  to  connect  with  roads  in  that  State.  The  other  line  of 
road  runs  northwest  through  Lodi,  near  Devil’s  Lake,  and 
to  Baraboo,  and  is  to  be  extended  to  the  Mississippi  river  and 
other  points.  The  road  was  completed  to  Baraboo  and  a  cele- 


338 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


bration  was  held  at  that  place  September  12.  Both  of  these 
roads  have  been  well  patronized,  and,  in  the  summer  season, 
the  attractions  of  Devil’s  Lake  and  the  Bluffs  bring  a  large 
number  of  visitors  from  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati  and  other  locali¬ 
ties,  to  spend  a  part  of  the  season  there. 

The  Park  Hotel,  which  was  commenced  in  1870,  was  com¬ 
pleted,  furnished  and  opened  to  the  public  in  August,  1871. 
The  following  is  a  description  of  this  elegant  building,  one 
of  the  handsomest  of  the  kind  in  Wisconsin,  if  not  the  most 
costly: 

“  The  location  of  the  Hotel  is  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Car- 
roll  streets,  or  directly  opposite  the  south  corner  of  the  Capitol 
Park.  The  ground  upon  which  it  stands  is  several  feet  higher 
ihan  that  upon  which  the  State  Capitol  stands,  and  higher 
than  any  other  point  between  Lakes  Mendota  and  Monona. 
Its  size  is  116  feet  upon  Carroll  street,  fronting  the  Capitol 
Park,  and  99  feet  upon  Main  street.  It  is  built  of  Milwaukee 
pressed,  cream  colored  brick,  with  trimmings  of  the  best  of 
Madison  stone,  which  makes  a  wall  the  most  pleasing  to  the 
eye  of  anything  used  for  this  purpose;  is  four  stories  high, 
with  Mansard  roof  of  elaborate  finish.  On  nearly  the  entire 
front  on  Carroll  street,  or  towards  Capitol  Park,  is  a  broad 
two-story  piazza.  This  front  is  to  the  northeast,  where  the 
sun  only  strikes  it  for  a  few  hours  in  the  morning,  just  when  it 
is  needed  to  dry  it,  thus  rendering  it  one  of  the  pleasantest 
places  for  recreation  in  warm  weather  that  can  be  found. 
Upon  Main  street,  also,  a  balcony  runs  along  a  portion  of  the 
building.  The  piazza  is  covered  with  a  roof,  and  supported 
with  light  columns  or  pillars.  The  exterior  of  the  building 
presents  a  most  pleasing  appearance,  and  is  greatly  admired  by 
all  who  see  it.  In  it  there  is  no  attempt  at  show,  but  there 
has  been  a  neatness  of  design  and  execution  that  is  very 
marked;  and  the  result  is  a  building  of  exquisite  beauty  and 
taste  in  its  external  appearance. 

“Elegant  and  tasteful,  however,  as  is  the  external  appear¬ 
ance  of  this  charming  hotel,  it  is  only  an  indication  of  its  in¬ 
ternal  arrangement  and  finish.  Much  attention  has  been  be- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


339 


stowed  upon  the  plan  of  the  house,  with  a  view  to  its  conveni¬ 
ence  in  every  respect.  Differing  from  most  hotels  in  cities,  this 
building  is  wholly  used  for  the  convenience  of  guests.  The 
lower,  and  of  course  the  best,  story  is  not  devoted  to  stores  or 
other  business  uses,  but  the  entrance  to  the  office  of  the  hotel 
is  upon  the  corner  of  the  first  story.  This  room,  or  office,  is 
large,  and  presents  a  very  inviting  appearance  to  the  weary 
traveler  as  he  enters  it;  and,  to  add  to  the  attractions  of  the 
first  entrance,  there  are  two  large  and  airy  parlors  adjoining 
the  office,  to  be  used  for  writing,  or  for  conversational  pur¬ 
poses.  This  is  a  remarkably  pleasant  feature  of  the  house,  and 
one  that  must  give  special  satisfaction  to  guests.  There  is  still 
another  large  room  designed  for  a  reading  apartment.  The 
dining  rooms,  large  and  elegant,  and  ball  room,  are  also  upon 
the  first  floor.  But  we  need  not  particularize.  It  is  enough 
to  say,  that  this  floor  is  devoted  to  the  convenience  of  the  ho¬ 
tel,  and  they  are  many  and  elegant. 

“  In  the  second  story  are  the  parlors,  and  numerous  suites  of 
rooms  designed  for  families,  fitted  up  with  all  the  modern  im¬ 
provements.  This  arrangement  prevails  throughout  the  house. 
All  the  rooms  are  pleasant  and  conveniently  arranged.  The 
views  from  them  are  those  of  surpassing  beauty.  On  the  one 
side  we  have  a  glimpse  of  the  lake,  with  the  finest  landscape  in 
the  distance;  on  the  other,  the  Capitol  Park,  the  best  business 
streets  in  the  city,  and  so  on,  taking  in  a  great  variety  of  the 
most  beautiful  scenery  to  be  found  anywhere  in  this  country. 
We  venture  the  opinion,  that  no  house  in  the  west,  or  in  the 
east  either,  can  produce  so  many  rooms  from  which  are  so 
many  magnificent  landscape  views,  as  are  to  be  found  in  the  Park 
Hotel.  It  makes  no  difference  whether  the  room  be  in  the 
front  or  rear  of  the  house  —  whether  in  the  first,  second,  third 
or  fourth  story,  the  same  beauty  of  scenery  presents  itself; 
and  glimpses  of  some  one  of  the  lakes  are  seen  from  every  room 
in  the  house.  It  is  very  difficult  to  decide  upon  a  location  in 
this  house,  with  a  view  to  its  greatest  pleasantness.  Where  all 
the  rooms  are  so  satisfactory,  all  guests  must  be  pleased  so  far 
as  room  is  concerned. 


340 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


“  In  the  furnishing  of  this  hotel,  no  pains  or  expense  has 
been  spared  to  make  this  part  correspond  fully  in  style  with 
the  magnificence  of  the  building  itself;  and,  at  the  same  time, 
afford  substantial  comfort  to  the  guests.  The  entire  furniture 
is  of  walnut,  oiled,  and  of  the  most  substantial  character,  and 
of  modern  style.  The  parlor  carpet  is  Crosseley’s  velvet.  All 
the  other  carpets  are  English  body  Brussells,  except  those  upon 
the  fourth  floor,  and  they  are  of  the  best  Lowell  manufacture. 
All  the  beds  are  furnished  with  hair  mattrasses  and  steel 
r  i  ngs  of  the  best  quality  that  could  be  procured.  The  table 
furniture,  as  silver,  china,  glassware,  etc.,  is  superior  to  any¬ 
thing  of  the  kind  we  have  ever  seen.  Exquisite  taste  has  been 
exhibited  in  the  selection  of  these  articles.  In  fine,  everything 
about  the  furnishing  of  the  house  is  entirely  new  and  of  the 
very  best  quality.  It  is  heated  by  the  most  approved  steam 
apparatus,  and  water,  both  hard  and  soft,  is  distributed  through 
every  part  of  the  house,  and  for  protection  against  fire,  hose 
attachments  are  provided  on  every  floor.11 

The  Hotel  has  been  leased  to  Mark  H.  Irish,  Esq.,  late  of 
the  Queen’s  Hotel,  Toronto,  and  the  Queen’s  Royal,  at  Niaga¬ 
ra.  In  these  positions,  Mr.  Irish  has  acquired  a  high  reputa¬ 
tion  as  a  superior  hotel  keeper. 

The  most  elegant  edifice  completed  this  season,  was  the 
United  States  Court  House  and  Post  Office.  It  is  located  on 
the  corner  of  Wisconsin  avenue  and  Mifflin  street,  opposite 
the  City  Hall.  It  was  built  by  the  government  without 
regard  to  expense,  and  by  mechanics  who  were  paid  by  the 
day  under  the  direction  of  Col.  S.  V.  Shipmah,  Superintending 
Architect.  It  is  a  four  story  building  above  the  basement,, 
the  corners  and  facings  constructed  of  Joliet  marble,  and 
Madison  stone  for  inside  walls.  It  is  113  feet  in  length,  and 
about  70  feet  in  width;  is  built  in  the  most  modern  style  of 
architecture,  and  surmounted  with  a  Mansard  roof.  The 
interior  arrangements  are  complete  in  all  respects.  The  first, 
floor,  occupied  as  the  Post  Office,  is  fitted  up  with  all  the  modern 
improvements,  has  some  400  lock  boxes,  and  nearly  2,000  other 
boxes.  Many  of  the  other  boxes  are  trimmed  with  brass,  and 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN.  341 

have  oval  glass  lights  arranged  in  the  most  tasty  manner 
Back  of  the  Post  Office  proper,  are  apartments  for  postmaster, 
chief  clerk,  the  paymaster,  cashier,  etc. 

In  the  second  story  are  the  offices  of  clerks  of  the  courts, 
U.  S.  marshal,  assessor  and  collector  of  internal  revenue,  judges, 
pension  agent,  etc. 

The  third  story  is  occupied  as  United  States  District  Court 
Room,  and  is  in  all  respects  the  most  elegant  court  room  in  the 
state  and  in  the  west. 

The  building  is  placed  upon  the  most  permanent  and  endur¬ 
ing  foundations,  extending  some  thirty  feet  into  the  earth, 
and  it  is  literally  fire  proof,  being  built  of  stone  and  iron, 
except  a  few  interior  casings,  which  are  of  black  walnut  of  the 
finest  finish.  The  building  is  an  ornament  to  the  state  and  a 
credit  to  the  government.  To  the  energy  of  the  late  Hon.  B. 
F.  Hopkins  is  due  the  credit  of  securing  the  building  of  this 
magnificent  structure. 

In  a  review  of  the  improvements  made  in  the  city  during 
the  year,  the  Madison  Democrat  says:  u  Though  this  year  now 
closing  has  been  remarkable  for  hard  times  throughout  the 
State,  owing  to  the  short  crops  of  1870,  and  other  causes,  it 
has,  nevertheless,  been  characterized  by  great  advancement  in 
all  that  tends  to  make  a  people  great  and  prosperous.  In 
increased  railroad  facilities  and  public  improvements,  the  state 
has  never  made  more  rapid  growth  than  in  the  past  year,  and 
Madison  has  made  the  same  progress  in  all  that  tends  to  its 
substantial  prosperity.” 

W  e  give  an  abstract  of  some  of  the  more  important  improve¬ 
ments:  In  February,  the  building  on  the  corner  of  Pinckney 
and  Clymer  streets,  known  as  the  Yak  Bergen  block,  built  in 
1855  by  P.  H.  Van  Bergen,  Esq.,  having  come  into  possession 
of  R.  M.  Hooley,  Esq.,  the  building  was  thoroughly  re-modeled 
and  arranged  for  an  Opera  House  at  a  cost  of  about  $6,000.  It 
has  all  the  modern  improvements  of  a  building  designed  for 
such  purposes,  with  balcony  circles,  stage  60  by  30  feet,  drop 
curtain,  full  set  of  scenery,  etc.,  with  a  seating  capacity  of  800 
to  1,000  persons.  This  is  a  building  much  needed  for  public 
occasions. 


342 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


Dr.  J .  E.  Baker  completed  his  new  block,  corner  of  Pinckney 
street  and  Washington  avenue,  one  of  the  most  handsome  as. 
well  as  most  substantial  in  the  city,  and  was  built  at  a  cost  of 
about  $30,000.  The  walls  are  of  colored  Madison  sandstone. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  imposing  buildings  we  have,  and  is 
greatly  admired  for  its  fine  architectural  appearance.  It  is 
occupied  by  the  Park’s  Saving’s  Bank  and  two  stores  on  the 
first  floor  on  Pinckney  street,  the  upper  stories  for  insurance  and 
other  offices. 

The  Democrat  Block,  on  Mifflin  street,  uear  Carroll  street, 
was  built  by  Fish  &  Stevehs,  of  Madison  stone;  is  66  feet  front 
*  and  60  feet  deep.  The  cost  of  the  building  is  about  $11,000;. 
is  two  full  stories  with  basement.  The  upper  portion  is  used 
for  the  printing  office  of  the  Democrat ,  and  the  first  floor  for 
three  stores. 

The  Ellsworth  Block  is  on  Pinkney  street,  facing  the  Capitol,, 
and  is  45  feet  front,  80  feet  deep,  and  three  stories  high;  has 
two  stores  on  first  floor,  the  second  floor  for  offices,  and  the 
third  arranged  with  special  reference  to  Prof.  Worthihgtoh’s 
Business  College.  The  building  cost  about  $12,500 

In  the  earlier  part  of  this  history,  reference  was  made  to  the 
old  Messersmith  House,  on  Pinckney  street.  Some  additional 
information  in  reference  to  this  building  and  events  connected 
with  its  history,  may  be  interesting. 

In  the  month  of  April,  of  this  year  (1871),  Mr.  Fritz  M^eder 
having  purchased  the  lot  on  which  the  building  was  standing, 
adjoining  the  Ellsworth  Block,  took  it  down  to  make  room  for 
the  fine  brick  building  which  now  occupies  its  site. 

In  referring  to  the  taking  down  of  this  house,  Gen.  Atwood, 
in  an  article  in  the  State  Journal  of  April  26,  gives  an  interest¬ 
ing  account  of  its  history,  from  which  liberal  extracts  have 
been  taken. 

.  “  In  the  autumn  of  1837,  Simeoh  Mills,  with  Johh  Mes¬ 
sersmith,  began  the  building  now  demolished,  and  its  timbers 
were  enclosed  that  fall.  Mr.  Mills  subsequently  disposed  of 
of  his  interest  to  Messersmith,  who  completed  the  building  in 
the  summer  of  1838.  Of  saw  mills,  there  were  none  in  all  this 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


343 


region  in  those  days,  and  so  the  beams  were  hewn,  the  clap¬ 
boards,  shingles  and  lath  rived  from  oaks  on  the  ground,  as  well 
as  the  facilities  admitted,  the  building  was  finished  in  the  fall 
of  1838.  Messersmith  opened  “  a  wet  grocery  v  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  building,  and  in  the  upper  story,  Mr.  Burroughs* 
of  Iowa  county,  unchained  the  “  Tiger  ”  for  the  first  time  in 
Madison.  It  was  the  regular  Bengal  animal,  whose  superior 
has  never  been  seen  here  since,  and  where  it  was  kept  was  the 
great  place  of  resort  for  those  who  loved  excitement,  or  sought 
amusement,  indeed  for  every  bod}^  for  there  was  almost  no¬ 
where  else  to  go,  neither  churches,  libraries,  theatres  or  lec¬ 
tures.  Societjr  was  unformed,  the  few  houses  were  crowded* 
and  gambling  was  accounted  equally  respectable  with  any 
other  occupation  of  that  time.  Money  was  abundant,  and  cir¬ 
culated  freely,  was  easily  got  and  carelessly  spent.  Burroughs 
and  others  in  the  ring  “  made  cords  of  money  ”  out  of  their 
dupes,  and  we  have  heard  that  the  riches  of  the  man  who  ran 
the  saloon  down  stairs,  mainly  took  wings  and  flew  to  the  up¬ 
per  story  out  of  his  reach.  Many  a  scene  of  despair  has  doubt¬ 
less  been  witnessed  in  the  old  building,  which  would  be  a  war¬ 
ning  to  all  in  danger  from  the  vice  of  gambling.” 

Mr.  MtEDEr’s  building  is  two  stories,  of  stone,  and  is  oceu^ 
pied  by  himself  with  his  large  stock  of  fancy  goods  and  confer 
tionery.  The  building  cost  about  $6,000. 

Another  valuable  public  improvement  made  this  year,  was- 
the  “Reaper  Works,”  erected  by  J.  H.  Garhhardt,  Esq.,  on 
the  east  end  of  Washington  avenue,  on  block  223.  It  is  built 
of  white  brick,  and  is  as  near  fire-proof  as  is  possible  to  make 
it.  It  is  175  feet  long,  with  a  wing  on  each  end,  58  feet,  ex¬ 
clusive  of  stone  house,  a  switch  of  the  Chicago  and  Northwest¬ 
ern  Railroad  runs  to  the  coal  house  for  receiving  coal  and  lum¬ 
ber.  The  manufacture  of  reapers  is  to  be  the  principal 
business. 

Hiram  Browh  &  C j„  Lave  put  up  an  establishment  at  the 
foot  of  Main  street,  22  feet  front  and  114  feet  deep,  exclusive 
of  engine  room.  It  is  built  of  brick,  and  cost,  with  the  ma-' 
chinery  in  it,  about  $20,000,  and  is  designed  for  the  manufac- 


SM  HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 

ture  of  Anderson’s  agricultural  steamer  and  low  pressure  steam 
heating  apparatus.  It  will  give  employment  to  about  twenty 
men. 

F.  A.  Ogden".  Esq.,  has  enlarged  and  greatly  improved  his 
block  on  Carroll  street,  west  of  the  “  Grace  church.”  The 
block  is  46  feet  front  and  40  feet  deep,  two  stories  high,  and 
built  of  white  brick,  at  an  expense  of  $3,000. 

Fitch  &  McGovern,  on  Main  street,  near  the  court  house, 
have  two  fine  brick  stores,  at  a  cost  of  $8,000. 

Gen.  Simeon  MiLiAhas  erected  a  two-story  building  on  the 
.corner  of  Main  and  Wisconsin  avenue  (on  the  site  of  his  former 
residence),  and  is  occupied  by  Pardee  &  Bro’s,  druggists,  and 
offices  on  the  second  floor. 

Mr.  Kleuter,  near  the  East  Madison  depot,  built  a  two  story 
brick  store  for  his  own  business  at  a  cost  of  $3,500.  Mr.  P. 
Cass  a  similar  building,  22  by  44  feet  on  King  street. 

There  has  been  quite  a  number  of  elegant  residences  erected 
during  ihe  year,  besides  many  cottages.  The  following  is  a 
memorandum  of  those  built  exceeding  a  cost  of  $2,500:  Maj. 
Jas.  R.  Mears,  brick,  on  Carroll  street,  $5,000;  Prof.  J.  W. 
Sterling,  State  street,  brick,  $5,300;  L.  W.  Hoyt,  Esq.,  Wis¬ 
consin  avenue,  brick,  $4,500;  Maj.  J.  O.  Culyer,  Carroll  street, 
on  Lake  Mendota,  [frame,  $4,000;  Hon.  B.  E.  Hutchinson,  near 
Wisconsin  avenue,  brick,  $4,000;  E.  S.  McBride,  Carroll 
street,  brick,  $3,700;  Hon.  E.  W.  Keyes,  Pinckney,  brick 
house  enlarged,  $3,500.  The  cost  of  private  residences  may 
safely  be  estimatd  at  $50,000. 

The  whole  amount  expended  in  permanent  improvements 
may  be  put  down  as  follows:  Business  blocks  and  stores. 
$217,500;  private  residences,  $50,000;  manufacturing  establish¬ 
ments,  $60,000;  gas  works,  in  buildings  and  new  pipes,  $30,000; 
street  improvements,  850,000.  To  this  may  be  added  the  new 
Female  College  and  University  grounds,  $50,000;  the  new  St. 
Regina  Academy,  on  Washington  avenue  (three  story  brick 
with  basement  and  Mansard  roof,  the  building  33  by  70  feet), 
$8,500;  and  the  pastor’s  residence,  corner  of  Main  street,  a 
brick  building,  $3,500.  The  Madison  Democrat  puts  down  the 
whole  improvements  at  over  $500,000. 


•-snosicm*.  otim 

sjcrvis  xrejcoasrAi 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN, 


345 


On  the  9th  of  October  occurred  the  “  Great  Fire  of  Chicago,” 
the  account  of  which  produced  as  great  excitement  here  as  at 
any  other  point.  Meetings  of  the  citizens  were  held,  and  pro¬ 
visions  and  clothing  were  brought  forward,  and  sent  on  imme¬ 
diately  to  relieve  the  sufferers.  Madison  responded  to  the  call 
for  relief  promptly,  and  money  and  merchandise  to  amount  to 
$10,000  were  sent;  assistance  was  also  sent  to  the  sufferers  at 
Peshtigo  in  the  northern  part  of  the  state,  where  the  loss  of 
life  and  property  by  the  raging  fires  called  aloud  for  aid  and 
sympathy. 

The  Madison  Yacht  Club  is  the  largest  organization  of  the 
kind  in  Wisconsin.  It  was  organized  in  the  fall  of  1870,  by 
the  consolidation  of  the  Mendota  and  the  Lake  City  Yacht 
Clubs,  and  was  granted  a  charter  by  the  legislature  of  1871. 
The  fleet  of  the  club  numbers  sixteen  boats,  including  schooner, 
sloop  and  cat  rigged  yachts.  Numerous  regattas  are  held  du¬ 
ring  the  sailing  season,  attracting  large  numbers  of  people 
from  all  parts  of  the  State,  and  have  heretofore  always  proved 
great  successes.  The  club  has  handsomely  furnished  rooms  in 
Fairchild’s  block,  where  the  late  papers  are  always  to  be  found. 

The  Madison  Boat  Club  has  been  in  existence  only  one  year, 
but  has  a  vigorous  start,  and  is  recognized  as.  one  of  the  sub¬ 
stantial  attractions  of  the  city.  It  has  a  fine  equipment  of 
cedar  and  paper  shells,  and  a  fine  barge  for  excursions  and  pic¬ 
nics.  The  club  has  invested  in  boats,  $825;  boat  houses,  $300, 
and  equipments,  $175,  and  contemplates  making  extensive  ad¬ 
ditions  during  the  season  of  1872.  It  numbers  among  its  ac¬ 
tive  members  many  of  the  prominent,  professional  and  busi¬ 
ness  men  of  the  city,  and  with  fine  equipments  and  unrivalled 
boating  facilities,  bids  fair  to  take  a  prominent  place  among  the 
many  amateur  boat  clubs  of  the  west.  The  rowing  course  on 
Lake  Monona  is  unsurpassed  east  or  west. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Club,  held  October  28,  it  was 
reported  that  the  total  receipts  since  the  organization  were 
$1,010.20,  of  which  amount,  $891.75  was  received  from  mem¬ 
bers,  and  $118.45  from  other  sources  —  that  there  had  been 
paid  for  boats,  $800.28,  and  $236.46  for  houses  and  pier. 

23 


346 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


In  the  account  above  given,  we  have  omitted  to  state  that 
George  Fess  has  enlarged  his  hotel  accommodations  by  the 
construction  of  a  two  story  brick  building,  30  by  60  feet,  at  a 
cost  of  about  $4,000.  On  this  lot  there  has  been  for  years  a 
neat  little  building  which  has  been  occupied  by  Mr.  Fess  as  a 
dwelling,  in  connection  with  his  hotel  accommodations.  This 
little  building  possesses  a  historical  interest  which  it  will  he 
interesting  to  notice.  It  was  built  in  1838,  and  was  first  used 
by  the  commissioners  who  came  here  to  superintend  the  erec¬ 
tion  of  the  old  capitol  as  their  office.  It  has  been  in  constant 
use  ever  since.  Its  frame  work  never  saw  such  an  institution 
as  a  saw  mill,  or  its  lath  a  circular  saw  or  any  other  kind.  The 
large  timbers  for  its  frame  were  hewn  with  an  axe,  and  its  lath 
are  of  large  proportions,  having  no  regular  size ;  yet  everything 
stands  as  firm  as  a  rock,  and  the  building  could  be  safely  re¬ 
moved  to  Milwaukee  or  almost  any  other  place  without  fear  of 
even  cracking  the  plastering. 

On  the  11th  of  January,  1872,  Mr.  John  Stoner  died  at  his 
residence,  in  this  place,  in  his  80th  year.  The  following  notice 
of  him  has  been  prepared  by  Wm.  Welch,  Esq.  He  was  born  in 
Washington  county,  Md.,  on  the  25th  day  of  December,  1791. 
When  a  child,  he  was  taken  to  Adams  county,  Penn. ;  from  this 
place  he  went  to  New  York  city,  and  soon  after  to  Buffalo, 
when  that  place  was  comparatively  new.  The  family  leaving  Buf¬ 
falo,  settled  at  F airport,  5  miles  east  of  Willoughby,  on  the  lake 
shore.  Here  his  father  died,  when,  with  his  mother,  he  returned 
to  Pennsylvania,  and  learned  the  cabinet  making  trade.  Soon 
after,  the  war  of  1812  broke  out,  when  he  enlisted  as  a  private, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  term  of  his  enlistment,  was  discharged. 

Mr.  S.  now  went  to  Ohio,  was  married,  and  settled  in  Euclid, 
eight  miles  east  of  Cleveland,  where  he  resided  25  years.  W  ith 
a  small  piece  of  land  upon  which  he  grew  his  bread,  and  work¬ 
ing  industriously  at  his  trade,  he  managed  to  obtain  quite  a 
competency  for  those  days,  but  his  family  increasing  faster  than 
his  dollars  and  his  acres,  he  was  obliged  to  seek  for  a  wider 
range  for  his  field  of  labors,  and  conceived  the  idea  of  seeking  a 
new  home  in  the  then  “Far  off  West.” 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


347 


Husbanding  bis  means,  a  portion  of  which  he  invested  in  a 
span  of  horses  and  a  wagon,  he  started  with  his  wife  and  a 
family  of  seven  children,  for  Madison,  the  capital  of  the  then 
Territory  of  Wisconsin,  and  after  a  tedious  journey  of  just  four 
weeks,  through  a  new  and  almost  wilderness  country, 
reached  his  destination  on  the  6th  of  September,  1837.  His 
wagon  was  about  the  first  that  came  from  Janesville  here. 
Janesville  then  contained  but  one  solitary  double  log  cabin,  and 
was  occupied  by  Jakes  himself.  The  course  of  this  place  was 
marked  by  blazed  trees,  a  party  of  government  surveyors  having 
just  before  run  a  line  between  the  two  points. 

Mr.  Stoker  found  but  three  or  four  log  cabins  in  this  gay 
capital.  The  old  Peck  house,  a  log  building,  with  a  small 
frame  attached,  stood  near  the  site  of  the  present  residence  of 
Wm.  Pykcheok,  Esq.,  and  was  the  principal  point  of  attraction. 
The  wood  frame  afterwards  constituted  a  portion  of  the  kitchen 
of  the  old  Madison  Hotel. 

Aside  from  women  and  children  (few  indeed),  the  population 
of  the  place  consisted  of  but  twenty-five  or  thirty  persons,  most 
of  whom  were  emploj^ed  as  laborers  on  the  capitol.  Milwaukee 
and  Galena  were  the  points  from  which  provisions  must  be  ob¬ 
tained,  and  as  the  wife  and  babies  had  not  learned  to  live  with¬ 
out  food,  Mr.  S.  was  obliged  to  procure  it.  He  concluded  to  go 
to  Galena,  and  on  foot  he  started.  At  the  head  of  Fourth 
Lake,  where  Pheasant  Branch  now  is,  he  struck  an  Indian 
trail  which  led  off  into  the  lead  mines,  and  from  there  he  found 
a  wagon  track  to  Galena.  Arrived  there,  he  purchased  a  yoke 
of  oxen  and  a  wagon,  and  his  provisions.  Pork  was  $36  per 
barrel;  flour,  $30  to  $35  per  barrel;  butter,  $1  per  pound;  sugar 
75  cents,  and  everything  else  in  proportion.  Returning  to  Mad¬ 
ison  he  was  caught  in  a  heavy  fall  of  snow.  When  the  storm 
abated  the  snow  was  so  heavy  that  he  was  unable  to  travel, 
and  he  camped  several  days  and  nights,  subsisting  himself  and 
team  as  best  he  could.  On  reaching  home,  he  found  a  new 
born  son,  which  was  the  first  male  child  born  here,  and  which 
he  at  once  christened  “  Madisok  ”  in  honor  of  the  place. 

In  1838,  he  entered  240  acres  of  land  on  what  is  now  called 


348 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


“  Stoner’s  Prairie,”  a  few  miles  west  of  Madison  —  the  prairie 
taking  his  name.  Leaving  his  family  in  town,  in  order  that 
his  children  might  have  the  benefit  of  a  school,  he  kept  u  bach” 
on  this  farm  more  or  less  for  seventeen  years,  the  first  few 
years  without  fences,  being  annoyed  only  by  deer  and  wild 
geese.  Finally,  he  sold  his  farm  for  $15  per  acre;  within  a  year 
thereafter  the  same  land  was  worth  $50. 

In  the  spring  of  1863,  his  faithful  wife,  who  had  shared  his 
pioneer  life,  died.  His  family  having  grown  up,  he  felt  alone 
in  the  world.  Restless  and  uneasy,  the  pioneer  spirit  revived, 
and  taking  his  old  sorrel  mare,  which  he  had  owned  when  a 
colt  twenty-two  years  before,  and  his  only  grandson,  a  lad  of 
fourteen  summers,  he  set  out  for  Colorado  Territory,  where  his 
son  Madison  had  made  a  home  four  or  five  years  before.  The 
next  year  he  returned  to  the  States,  going  back  the  same  sea¬ 
son  —  coming  and  returning  with  the  old  mare.  In  1865,  he 
came  again  to  Madison,  returning  the  same  year,  after  visiting 
Ohio. 

Mr.  Stoner  had  two  daughters,  who  were  married,  hut  they 
died  a  few  years  after,  of  consumption,  as  well  as  two  unmar¬ 
ried  daughters.  His  son  George  W.  Stoner  is  still  a  resident 
of  Madison. 

Mr.  Stoner  was  a  good  man,  honored  and  respected  by 
everyone. 

At  the  spring  election,  April  2,  1872,  for  the  office  of  Maj^or, 
Jas.  L.  Hill*  received  976,  and  Alden  S.  Sanborn,  772  votes; 
Mr.  Hill's  majority,  204.  For  Treasurer,  Maj.  Chas.  Gr.  Mayers 
received  1,017  votes,  and  A.  Herfuth,  722;  majority  for  Maj. 

*  James  L.  Hill,  Esq.,  is  a  son  of  Priam  B.  and  Amanda  E.  Hill,  and 
was  born  at  Brockport,  N.  Y.,  July  4,  1834.  He  removed  with  his  parents 
to  Fulton  county,  Ill.,  in  1836,  and,  in  1842,  to  Milwaukee,  where  he  made 
his  residence  until  1854,  the  last  two  years  of  which  he  was  engaged  in  the 
banking  house  of  Marshall  &  Xlsley.  In  February,  1854,  he  removed  to 
Madison,  and  was  Teller  of  the  State  Bank,  which  place  he  retained  until 
the  organization  of  the  Bank  of  Madison,  in  i860,  when  he  took  the  posi¬ 
tion  of  Cashier,  and  subsequently  President  of  that  institution,  which  he 
retained  until  the  business  of  the  bank  was  suspended  in  1873.  Mr.  Hill 
was  elected  Mayor  at  the  spring  election  of  1872. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


349 


Mayers,  295.  For  Police  Justice,  A.  B.  Braley  received  1,224 
votes;  there  was  no  opposing  candidate.  The  Aldermen 
elected  were:  E.  Cook  and  Geo.  W.  Buhker,  1st  ward;  R. 
Woottok  and  C.  P.  Chapmah,  2d  ward;  F.  M.  Dork  and  Johh 
Lewis,  3d  ward;  and  Adriak  Webster  and  Estes  Wilsoh,  4th 
ward. 

The  total  expenditures  of  the  city,  for  city  purposes,  for  the 
year  past  were,  $35,878.02,  and  the  receipts,  $36,304.55. 

The  number  of  scholars  in  the  city  schools,  from  September 
11,  1871,  to  June  28,  1872,  as  reported  by  the  City  Superin¬ 
tendent  of  Schools,  was  1,927 ;  the  number  present  at  the  date 
of  the  report,  1,043.  The  total  receipts  for  the  support  of  the 
city  schools,  for  the  year  past,  were  $25,690.36;  and  the  expendi¬ 
tures,  $25,366.21. 

On  the  13th  of  June,  the  corner-stone  of  the  new  Congrega¬ 
tional  Church  building,  on  the  corner  of  Washington  avenue 
and  Fairchild  street,  was  laid  with  appropriate  exercises,  includ¬ 
ing  addresses  by  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Fallows,  Rev.  C.  H.  Rich¬ 
ards  and  Gen.  David  Atwood.  In  the  former  part  of  this 
work  we  gave  an  account  of  the  early  history  of  this  church, 
which  was  established  in  1840.  For  a  number  of  years  past, 
the  building  occupied  by  the  society  had  been  inadequate  to 
supply  the  growing  wants  of  the  congregation,  and  the  erec¬ 
tion  of  a  new  building  was  called  for  as  a  matter  of  imperative 
necessity, 

The  following  is  a  brief  account  of  the  building  pro¬ 
posed  to  be  erected:  It  is  to  be  a  little  irregular  in  shape,  but 
about  75  feet  square,  the  audience  room  being  10  feet  less  in 
width  than  in  depth,  and  will  seat  650  on  the  main  floor,  and 
350  in  the  galleries.  There  will  be  rooms  for  conference  and 
social  gatherings,  Bible  classes,  etc.,  in  the  basement,  with  the 
present  chapel  made  available  for  Sunday  School  purposes.  It 
is  to  have  a  tower  16  feet  square,  with  a  spire  176  feet  high. 
The  total  cost  will  be  nearly  $35,000,  of  which  $23,000  has 
been  subscribed  at  this  date.  A  more  detailed  account  of  this 
building  will  be  given  hereafter. 

The  national  anniversary,  this  year,  was  observed  with  more 


350 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


than  usual  interest.  The  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennes¬ 
see  held  their  annual  re-union  at  this  place  at  that  time,  which 
brought  hither  a  large  number  of  the  most  prominent  officers 
in  the  army  to  participate  in  the  meeting.  The  Journal  says: 
“  Seldom,  if  ever  before,  has  Madison  been  so  thronged  by  peo¬ 
ple  from  the  surrounding  country  as  on  this  occasion.  Some 
4,000  persons  arrived  by  railroad,  at  the  East  Madison  depot, 
between  the  hours  of  9  and  10  A.  M.,  and,  during  the  day, 
about  7,000  arrived  in  all,  and  not  less  than  1,500  from  the 
adjacent  towns.  Among  those  present,  were  Gen.  Philip  H. 
Sheridah,  Gen.  Belkmap  (Secretary  of  War),  Gen.  Pope,  Gen. 
Noyes  (Governor  of  Ohio),  and  a  large  number  of  military 
officers  of  high  rank,  as  well  as  private  soldiers,  etc.  The  pro¬ 
cession  was  large  and  attractive,  under  the  charge  of  Col.  W. 
F.  Vilas  and  nine  assistants.  At  the  stand,  the  following  per¬ 
sons  took  part:  Hon.  Geo.  B.  Smith,  President;  Rev.  H.  W. 
Spaldimg,  Chaplain;  Wm.  Welch,  Reader;  and  S.  A.  Hurl- 
but,  of  Belvidere,  Ill.,  Orator.  There  was  a  yacht  race  at  3  P. 
M.,  and  a  rowing  race  at  4  o’clock,  which  were  well  attended, 
and  were  very  satisfactory.  The  exercises  were  concluded  by  a 
fine  display  of  fireworks. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  new  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on 
the  corner  of  Wisconsin  Avenue  and  Dayton  street,  was  laid  on 
the  30th  September,  with  appropriate  ceremonies.  An  address 
was  delivered  by  Rev.  J.  H.  Twombly,  D.  D.,  President  of  the 
Wisconsin  University.  The  new  church  promises  to  be  a  very 
fine  and  most  substantial  structure,  and  a  great  ornament  to  the 
city.  It  is  to  be  of  stone  throughout,  115  feet  by  60  feet,  and 
to  cost  not  less  than  $50,000.  One  of  the  features  of  the  re¬ 
port  adopted  at  the  last  West  Wisconsin  Conference,  in  rela¬ 
tion  to  this  church,  was,  that  the  whole  sum  was  divided  in 
three  equal  parts ;  one  third  to  be  raised  by  the  church  at  Mad¬ 
ison  ($16, 666.66f);  one  third  by  the  West  Wisconsin  Confer¬ 
ence,  and  the  other  third  by  the  Wisconsin  Conference. 
Madison  has  already  raised  about  the  whole  of  the  sum  appor¬ 
tioned  to  her,  or  has  in  hand  property  to  that  amount.  The 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


351 


work  of  building  will  be  prosecuted  with  all  despatch  and  as 
fast  as  funds  are  received  for  that  purpose. 

Rev.  Dr.  Alfeed  Beunsoit  ,  of  Prairie  du  Chien,  has  furnished 
for  present  use,  a  history  of  this  church,  from  the  earliest  time, 
and  other  statistics  derived  from  the  church  records  are  here¬ 
with  given.  We  are  fortunate  in  being  able  to  give  so  full  an 
account  of  the  organization. 

“  Agreeably  to  your  request,  I  send  you  the  best  information  I 
possess  on  the  Methodist  Church  in  Madison. 

The  building  of  the  territorial  capitol,  commenced  in  1837. 
This  brought  a  large  number  of  workmen  to  that  place,  with 
others  who  intended  to  reside  there.  In  the  course  of  that 
summer  the  Rev.  Salmon  Stebbiks,  now  of  Bristol,  Kenosha 
county,  then  Presiding  Elder  of  Milwaukee  District  in  the  Il¬ 
linois  Conference,  in  primitive  Methodist  style,  following  the 
new  settlers  as  fast  as  they  kindle  their  camp-fires,  visited  the 
place  and  preached  to  them;  the  first  sermon  of  any  kind 
preached  on  the  present  site  of  the  capital  of  the  state. 

I  am  not  aware  that  he  found  any  of  his  own  church  among 
the  workmen  or  settlers,  but  he  met  with  a  hearty  welcome; 
and  attached  the  place  to  the  Aztalan  Mission,  to  which  Sam¬ 
uel  Pilsbuey  and  Jesse  Halstead  had  been  appointed,  and 
they  also,  probably,  visited  and  preached  to  the  people  more  or 
less. 

The  next  year,  Madison  and  Fort  Winnebago  were  made  a 
Mission  Circuit,  with  John-  Hodge  as  Pastor.  The  country 
being  new,  the  settlements  sparse,  circuits  in  those  days  em¬ 
braced  a  large  tract  of  country. 

Madison,  being  the  capital  of  the  territory,  was  kept  at  the 
head  of  the  circuit,  though  there  was  not  a  member  of  the 
church  in  it;  and  thus  it  continued,  once  connected  with  Mus- 
coda,  but  mostly  by  itself,  as  the  nucleus  to  the  surrounding 
country. 

My  first  visit  to  Madison  was  in  the  month  of  December, 
1840,  as  a  member  of  the  Territorial  Legislature.  Down  to 
that  time  there  had  been  no  class  formed,  and  preaching  was 


352 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  ARD  THE 


done  in  the  Capitol,  the  Assembly  Hall,  which  was  the  only 
place  for  public  gatherings,  and  it  was  open  for  all  denomina¬ 
tions.  Finding  a  few  Methodists  in  the  Legislature,  and  among 
its  officers,  I  gathered  them  together  on  Sundays  for  class  meet¬ 
ings;  the  first  class  meetings  held  in  the  place.  On  Sunday 
morning  and  evening,  preaching  was  kept  up  in  the  Assembly 
Hall.  The  Chaplain,  Jas,  Mitchell,  being  a  Methodist,  he 
and  I  took  it  turn  about,  there  being  no  other  preacher  there, 
except  an  occasional  visitor,  for  the  winter. 

The  first  organization  of  a  Methodist  class,  as  well  as  I  can 
ascertain,  was  in  1841,  by  Rev.  T.  M.  Fullertoh,  consisting  of 
six  members,  which  increased  but  slowly,  with  now  and  then 
a  decrease,  chiefly  by  removals,  leaving  the  present  number 
(1873)  about  one  hundred  and  thirty. 

The  year  1851  was  a  year  of  peculiar  affliction  to  the  Metho¬ 
dists  of  Madison,  by  what  has  since  been  called  “  the  Snow 
Storm.”  The  pastor,  Rev.  J.  Show,  by  some  means  became 
partially  demented,  and  so  administered  discipline  as  to  exclude, 
or  cause  to  withdraw,  about  half  the  members  of  the  church, 
for  which  he  was  deposed  by  the  conference  from  his  minis¬ 
terial  functions,  and  those  who  had  been  expelled,  or  had  with¬ 
drawn  to  avoid  expulsion,  were  restored  to  theirbriginal  mem¬ 
bership,  yet  the  effects  of  that  terrible  storm  are  still  felt  and 
seen,  and  probably  will  be  more  or  less,  till  that  generation 
passes  away. 

Madison  was  not  separated  from  its  county  connections,  and 
made  a  separate  charge,  until  1852,  since  which  time  it  has 
remained  as  such. 

The  old  church,  “  on  the  corner,”  now  such  an  eye-sore  to 
the  membership  and  the  people  of  Madison,  was  begun  in 
1849  or  1850.  While  yet  connected  with  the  circuit,  “  Father 
Wm.  Fox”  of  Oregon,  then  a  part  of  the  circuit,  was  the 
principal  agent  in  its  erection.  But  the  society  being  small, 
and  having  but  little  of  this  world’s  goods,  the  building  went 
on  slowly.  Business  men  and  property  holders  did  not  seem 
to  appreciate  the  value  of  a  church  in  enhancing  the  business 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


353 


and  the  value  of  property,  and,  therefore,  did  not  aid  the  feeble 
society  as  men  of  that  class  have  in  other  places. 

The  old  church,  however,  at  the  time  it  was  built,  was  quite 
respectable,  being  nearly  the  first  house  of  worship  in  the  city, 
and  quite  as  good  as  others  of  its  time.  But  the  growth  of  the 
city,  and  the  erection  of  larger  and  more  splendid  buildings 
and  churches,  the  old  home  of  Methodism  in  Madison  fell 
into  the  shade,  and  our  wealthy  members  and  friends,  both 
residents  and  visitors,  became  ashamed  of  it,  and  business  men 
coveted  the  site  for  a  building  house.  The  house  also  became 
too  small  for  the  congregation.  Under  these  circumstances, 
the  society,  for  years,  have  been  devising  ways  and  means 
for  building  a  house  of  worship  that  would  be  more  acceptable 
to  the  eyes  of  the  public  and  accommodate  the  attendants. 
But  not  being  able  of  themselves,  and  others  outside  of  the 
church,  not  seeming  to  appreciate  the  value  of  such  a  building 
to  the  name  and  property  of  the  city,  nothing  was  done  in  this 
direction  until  our  conference  of  1871,  when  it  was  resolved  to 
make  it  a  State  affair,  and  the  other  conferences  agreeing  to  it, 
the  Rev.  D.  W.  Couch  was  appointed  an  agent  to  solicit  aid 
from  the  members  and  friends  of  the  church,  and  put  up  a 
building  that  would  be  an  ornament  to  the  Capital  of  the 
State,  and  be  a  fit  representative  of  the  most  numerous  church 
in  it.  This  is  now  under  way,  and  it  is  hoped  will  be  ready  for 
occupancy  within  a  year. 

Our  system  ot  itinerancy,  requiring  annual  or  bi-annual 
charges  in  the  pastorate,  necessarily  gives  variety  to  the  pulpit 
—  some  of  the  best,  and  some  not  so  good  —  but  as  u  variety  is 
the  spice  of  life,”  on  the  whole,  the  best  results  have  followed, 
though  some  localities  may  not  see  it  in  that  light. 

The  history  of  Methodism  in  Madison  has  been  one  of 
humiliating  tendencies.  Methodism  has  not  grown  or  pros¬ 
pered  here,  as  it  has  in  other  places,  but  as  the  humble  have 
the  promise  of  the  Savior’s  help,  we  hope  that  better  days  are 
dawning  upon  us. 

In  1856  the  West  Wisconsin  Conference  was  set  off  from 


354 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


the  other  part  of  the  State,  and  the  first  session  of  it  was  held 
in  Madison  in  that  year,  in  the  old  church.  In  1861,  soon 
after  the  rebellion  broke  out,  we  held  another  session  in  the 
city.  The  old  church  being  too  small,  we  were  honored  with 
the  use  of  the  Capitol,  and  while  the  Stars  and  Stripes  were 
waving  over  our  heads,  we  adopted  a  set  of  resolutions,  the 
first,  I  believe,  from  any  ecclesiastical  body,  proffering  aid  and 
comfort  to  President  Lincoln-  in  that  mighty  struggle  for  life 
and  liberty,  to  which  Mr.  Lincoln  made  a  respectful  and 
thankful  reply,  which  was  entered  upon  the  journals  of  the 
conference. 

In  addition  to  this  valuable  paper,  the  following  historical 
sketch  has  been  prepared  by  Rev.  Geo.  Fellows,  a  former  pas¬ 
tor  of  the  church,  on  the  same  subject,  and  is  copied  from  the 
church  records: 

The  first  conference  that  sent  her  members  to  labor  in  Mad- 
son,  was  the  Illinois  conference.  The  first  appointment  made 
in  this  State  was  by  that  conference,  October  1,  1835,  at  Mil¬ 
waukee.  In  1836,  Root  River  Mission  was  formed,  and  Samuel 
Pilsbury  appointed  pastor.  At  the  Illinois  conference,  1837, 
Salmon  Stebbins  was  made  presiding  Elder  of  Milwaukee  dis¬ 
trict,  and  Madison  mission  left  to  be  supplied,  which  is  the  first 
mention  made  of  Madison.  Col.  A.  A.  Bird  says,  a  Methodist 
clergyman,  Rev.  Salmon  Stebbins,  preached  the  first  sermon 
delivered  in  Madison,  in  the  month  of  September,  1837,  at 
which  time  there  were  but  four  families  in  the  place;  Eben 
Peck  and  family,  John  Pierce  and  family,  John  Stoner  and 
family  and  the  widow  Bird’s  family.  Mrs.  Marion  Stark¬ 
weather,  a  daughter  of  Col.  Bird,  says  that  in  March,  1838, 
Rev.  Samuel  Pilsbury  (who  was  preacher  at  the  Aztalan  Mis¬ 
sion),  came  and  preached  in  Madison,  and  during  the  season 
came  regularly  once  a  month.  Her  father  (Col.  Bird),  received 
word  from  a  friend  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  that  Pilsbury  would  be 
here  and  preach  if  a  place  could  be  provided,  and  thereupon  a 
log  barn  was  enclosed  on  the  spot  where  Mr.  A.  Kentzler’s 
stables  are  now  located,  and  it  was  made  ready  in  March  to 
.shelter  the  people.  Mr.  Pilsbury  came  and  preached  his  first 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


355 


sermon  there.  The  following  persons  were  present:  A.  A. 
Bird  and  family  of  four  children;  Dr.  Almon  Lull,  Charles 
and  William  Bird,  and  the  barn  was  surrounded  by  three  or 
four  hundred  Indians,  who  were  curious  listeners.  A  few  inci¬ 
dents  of  Mr.  Pilsbury’s  labors  have  been  preserved.  While 
tarrying  at  Col.  Bird’s  for  about  a  week  the  young  girls, 
including  Marion,  having  heard  some  of  the  settlers  say  that 
they  had  not  had  a  prayer  at  their  house  for  years,  kept  an  ac¬ 
count  of  the  number  of  morning  and  evening  prayers  made  b}r 
Mr.  P.  while  with  them,  with  chalk  on  the  door.  Mrs.  Stark¬ 
weather  also  says,  that  Mr.  P.  was  present  and  opened  by 
prayer  the  first  session  of  the  Territorial  council  held  in  the 
then  unfinished  State  House.  It  is  also  quite  probable  that 
Mr.  Stebbins  was  here  occasionally  through  the  year  as  pre¬ 
siding  elder. 

There  were  no  members  reported  to  conference  at  the  session 
September  12,  1838,  but  Madison  and  Fort  Winnebago  were 
associated,  and  the  Rev.  John  Hodges  was  the  missionary.  At 
the  end  of  the  year  five  members  were  reported  in  his  field.  In 
the  year  1839,  Madison  was  left  to  be  supplied.  Rev.  Mr. 
Stebbins  was  employed  at  Racine  and  Southport,  but  preached 
at  Madison  occasionally  during  the  year.  Miss  Ruth  Starks 
came  here  October  11,  1839.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Rock 
River  Conference,  held  at  Pine  Creek,  Ogle  county,  Ill.,  there 
were  three  members  reported  at  Madison,  August  26, 1840,  viz., 
Ruth  Starks,  Benjamin  Holt  and  wife.  Mr.  Holt  was 
leader.  It  is  probable  that  Rev.  S.  P.  Keyes  who  Avas  at  Fort 
Winnebago,  preached  occasionally  during  the  year,  there  being 
no  missionary  here.  At  the  meeting  of  the  conference  at  Platte- 
ville,  August  21,  1841,  there  were  eleven  members  reported  at 
Madison.  At  the  conference  at  Chicago,  August  24,  1842,  six 
members  reported,  and  S.  P.  Keyes  at  Madison  mission.  The 
services  were  now  held  in  the  capitol.  At  the  conference  held 
at  Dubuque,  Iowa,  August  23,  1843,  seventy-eight  members  re¬ 
ported  at  Madison,  and  Jesse  I..  Bennet,  missionary.  At  one 
held  July  24,  1844,  fifty-eight  members.  Salmon  Stebbins, 
preacher.  One  at  Peoria,  August  20, 1845,  forty-six  members, 


356 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


and  William  Allen,  appointed,  but  did  not  come,  and  Benja¬ 
min  Close  came  as  a  substitute.  Mrs.  Hannah  Pyncheon 
Wright  became  a  member  this  year.  At  the  conference  at 
Galena,  Ill.,  August  12,  1846,  Madison  reported  (including  ad¬ 
jacent  towns),  260  members.  F.  Smith  and  R.  R.  Farnsworth, 
preachers;  the  latter  did  not  come,  but  Wm.  Tasker  was  asso¬ 
ciated  with  the  former.  August  11,  1847  —  members,  234. 
John  Penman  and  C.  B.  Foster,  preachers.  The  Wisconsin 
conference  was  formed  J uly  12, 1848,  and  met  at  Southport 
(Kenosha),  two  hundred  and  twenty  members  reported,  John 
Penman,  preacher.  Conference  held  at  Platteville,  July  27, 

1849,  and  sixty-eight  members  reported,  one  probationer  and 
four  local  preachers.  Wesley  Lattin,  at  Madison.  July  26, 

1850,  conference  held  at  Beloit,  and  sixty-eight  members  and 
eighty-seven  probationers,  Wesley  Lattin  returned.  The 
building  of  the  church  was  commenced  this  year.  June  25, 

1851,  conference  held  at  Waukesha;  one  104  members,  36 
probationers  and  five  local  preachers.  Madison  district,  Wash¬ 
ington  Wilcox,  presiding  elder  and  Jonathan  M.  Snow, 
and  Enoch  Tasker,  preachers.  Sept.  1, 1852,  conference  held 
at  Fond  du  Lac;  there  were  106  members,  nine  probationers,  two 
colored  and  one  local  preacher.  J.  Searles  and  W.  H.  Thom  - 
son,  preachers.  The  church  was  completed  this  year  and 
dedicated,  Rev.  S.  C.  Thomas  preaching  the  dedicatory  sermon. 
Of  the  subsequent  ministers  of  this  church,  we  find,  in  1853,  0. 
F.  Comfort,  pastor;  1854,  J.  Nolan;  1855  and  1856,  M.  Hime- 
baugh;  1857,  C.  E.  Wyrick,  1858,  J.  West  Miller,  for  eight 
months,  and  Rev.  Samuel  Fallows,  a  student  of  the  Univer¬ 
sity,  appointed  junior  preacher,  1859,  J.  C.  Aspinwall  and  Mr. 
Fallows,  assistant* 

Rev.  A.  McWright,  appointed  October,  1859,  and  re-ap¬ 
pointed  in  1860,  but  did  not  return.  Rev.  Elmore  Yocum  was 
employed  for  eleven  months.  September,  1861,  Rev.  J.  A. 
Swetland  appointed,  and  was  re-appointed,  but  retired  after  a 
short  service,  owing  to  ill  health,  and  W.  H.  Wilde  appointed, 
and  preached  the  balance  of  the  year,  and  was  re-appointed  and 
labored  until  January,  1864,  when  his  health  failed.  Rev.  J. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


357 


M.  Springer,  chaplain  of  3d  Wisconsin  regiment,  supplied  the 
pulpit  until  May  1,  when  H.  H.  Parker  was  engaged  to  fill  the 
balance  of  the  year.  He  remained  until  September  1.  Rev. 
Geo.  Fellows  supplied  the  pulpit  in  the  month  of  September. 
He  was  re-appointed  August,  1865,  and  served  until  August, 
1866,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Jos.  E.  Irish,  Rev.  H.  K. 
Cobb,  Rev.  P.  S.  Mather  and  Rev.  H.  Stone  Richardson  to 
1874. 

Rev.  Salmon  Stebbins,  now  of  Bristol,  Kenosha  county, 
Wisv  who,  it  is  believed,  is  the  first  clergyman  who  preached 
at  Madison,  has  furnished  the  following  account  of  himself, 
and  of  his  first  visit  here:  He  was  born  at  Plainfield,  N.  H., 
July  13,  1795,  and  came  to  Wisconsin,  October  26,  1837.  He 
first  stopped  at  Southport  (now  Kenosha),  passed  on  to  Mil¬ 
waukee,  through  the  counties  of  Washington,  Manitowoc  and 
Sheboygan,  to  Green  Bay  and  Fond  du  Lac,  and  reached  Madi¬ 
son  November  28,  1837.  Here  he  found  Col.  A.  A.  Bird  and 
his  posse  of  workmen  employed  in  building  the  Territorial 
Capitol.  He  was  invited  by  the  Colonel  to  preach  in  his  bar¬ 
room,  who  sent  messengers,  as  he  thinks,  to  the  entire  popula¬ 
tion  of  the  town,  to  whom  he  preached,  as  he  believes,  the  first 
sermon  at  the  capital.  He  further  says,  “  the  character  of  his 
congregation  may  be  estimated  by  the  fact  that,  without  solici¬ 
tation,  the  next  morning  he  was  presented  with  a  purse  of  $11, 
to  aid  in  his  missionary  work.”  In  his  diary  at  that  time,  he 
writes:  “I  preached  to  a  very  interested  and  interesting  con¬ 
gregation.”  At  that  time  there  were  no  inhabitants  between 
Madison  and  Jefferson,  and  but  very  few  at  that  place. 

The  4th  of  July,  1873,  was  generally  observed  as  a  patriotic 
holiday,  although  there  was  no  regular  celebration.  There  was 
no  procession.  The  morning  and  a  part  of  the  afternoon  was 
rainy.  The  Good  Templars  had  an  excursion  to  Devil’s  Lake, 
in  which  many  participated,  and  many  were  drenched  by  a 
shower  coming  up  on  their  return.  There  was  a  yacht  race  on 
Lake  Monona  in  the  afternoon.  The  old  settlers  of  the  city 
were  entertained  by  Wm.  M.  Rasdall,  at  his  residence  on  Fair- 
child  street. 


358 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


During  the  summer,  the  State  authorities  erected  a  coal 
vault  and  room  for  the  steam  boilers  and  apparatus  for  heating 
the  Capitol.  The  vault  was  68  feet  long,  50  feet  wide  and  12 
feet  deep,  one  third  for  the  boilers  and  engine  room,  and  the 
remainder  for  storing  coal,  and  will  hold  1,400  tons.  The 
walls  were  of  stone,  covered  with  brick  arches  between  iron 
girders,  and  covered  with  sod,  with  proper  openings  for  venti¬ 
lation  and  light.  This  is  a  fine  improvement,  and  does  away 
with  the  unseemly  coal  yard  in  the  park.  Neat  walks  were 
also  opened  in  the  park,  and  laid  with  a  cement  of  asphalt. 
The  iron  fence  around  the  Capitol  grounds  was  completed,  and 
the  whole  graded  and  put  in  good  condition.  The  fence  is  now 
completed  at  a  total  cost  of  $37,912.37,  which  includes  the  sum 
of  $7,500  for  curbing  and  walk  outside  the  fence,  and  large 
flagging  stones  in  front  of  each  of  the  gates,  and  $847.25  for 
the  large  ornamental  figures  on  the  gate  posts. 

In  the  year  1867,  the  State  had  expended  some  $8,000  in 
sinking  an  artesian  well.  After  attaining  a  depth  of  1,000 
feet,  the  work  was  abandoned  and  closed  up,  in  the  belief  that 
a  flowing  well  could  not  be  obtained.  In  1873,  the  Legislature 
made  an  appropriation  for  improving  the  Capitol  grounds,  and, 
among  other  things,  $5,000  for  supplying  the  Capitol  with  wa¬ 
ter.  This  was  made  in  contemplation  of  the  erection  of  a 
steam  pump  and  boiler  house  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Monona, 
and  forcing  the  water  through  pipes  from  there  to  the  Capitol. 

Gov.  Washburn,  being  of  the  opinion  that  a  supply  of  wa¬ 
ter  could  be  procured  from  said  well,  caused  some  experiments 
to  be  made,  which  satisfied  him  of  an  abundant  supply  of 
water  from  the  same,  he  caused  a  shaft  to  be  sunk  to  the  depth 
of  the  water  standing  in  the  pipe  of  the  well,  being  about  60 
feet  from  the  surface,  and  at  the  bottom  of  it  set  up  a  power¬ 
ful  steam  pump,  connected  the  same  with  the  boilers  in  the 
vault,  and  at  a  largely  diminished  cost,  obtained  an  unlimited 
supply  of  the  purest  water. 

The  Governor  soon  after  sent  a  jug  of  this  water  to  Prof.  I. 
A.  Lapham,  of  the  State  Geological  Survey,  who  had  it  thor- 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


359 


oughly  analyzed  by  Gustavus  Bode,  an  analytical  chemist  at 
Milwaukee,  who  makes  the  following  report: 


“Milwaukee,  Oct.  10,  1873. 


“Prof.  I.  A.  Lapham —  Dear  Sir: — Herewith  please  find  re¬ 
sults  of  an  analysis  of  the  water  of  the  artesian  well  in  Madi¬ 
son,  which  I  made  at  your  request.  One  gallon  of  it  contains 
the  following  salts: 


Chloride  of  sodium,  - 
Sulphate  of  soda, 
Bi-carbonate  of  soda, 
Bi-carbonate  of  lime, 
Bi-carbonate  of  magnesia, 
Bi-carbonate  of  iron, 
Silicia, 


Grains. 
0.671 
1  •538’ 

1.956 

8.120 

6-937 

0*555 

1.456 


21.233 


“  The  analysis  shows  the  same  small  amount  of  salts,  the  ab¬ 
sence  of  sulphate  of  lime  and  of  organic  matter,  and  the  slight 
excess  of  alkali  characteristics  of  those  waters  which  are  rec¬ 
ommended  for  their  medicinal  properties  in  the  k  Bethesda 1  of 
Waukesha,  or  the  1  Siloam’  of  Milwaukee,  or  numerous  others.- 
In  regard  to  purity  and  brightness,  it  is  certainly  not  their  in¬ 
ferior.  Respectfully  yours,  Gustavus  Bode, 

“  Analytical  Chemist .” 

The  water  from  this  well  has  proved  very  beneficial  in  many 
diseases,  and  some  days  there  are  large  gatherings  of  people  at 
the  pump,  in  the  morning,  carrying  the  water  to  their  homes 
for  medicinal  purposes.  A  charter  for  a  company  to  lease  the 
water  of  the  State,  for  bottling  and  supptying  the  outside  de¬ 
mand  for  it,  is  now  pending  in  the  Legislature. 

At  the  spring  election,  1873,  Judge  Orsamus  Cole  received 
1,180  votes  for  Associate  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  Col. 
George  E.  Bryant  1,171  for  the  office  of  County  Judge.  For 
the  office  of  Mayor,  J.  C.  McKenney  received  504  votes,  and 


360 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


J.  C.  Gregory*  962,  who  was  elected  by  458  majority.  For 
Treasurer,  Wm.  Farrell  received  791  votes,  and  Charles  G. 
Mayers,  671.  Mr.  Farrell’s  majority,  120.  Aldermen  —  1st 
ward,  Geo.  W.  Bunker  and  J.  Heeran;  2d  ward,  C.P.  Chap¬ 
man  and  Andrew  Daubner;  3d  ward,  H.  Kleuter  and  Dar¬ 
win  Clark;  4th  ward,  A.  Sexton  and  Thos.  Dean. 

The  whole  amount  of  receipts  for  the  year  (1872)  was 
$127,957.33,  and  the  expenditures,  $104,333.79,  of  which 
$15,166.61  were  for  general  city  purposes. 

On  the  9th  of  June,  the  Presbyterian  Church  was  re-opened 
for  public  worship.  The  building  had  undergone  extensive 
improvements. 

The  only  addition  made,  is  an  arched  recess  for  the  organ,  in 
the  rear  of  the  pulpit.  The  greatest  change  made  is  in  the 
windows;  the  plain,  square  sashed  windows,  with  blinds,  hav¬ 
ing  been  replaced  by  arched  windows,  the  principal  part  of 
each  large  pane,  ground  glass,  a  colored  border  in  vine-work 
surrounding.  There  are  excellent  seats,  mainly  of  ash,  left  the 
natural  color  of  the  wood,  with  a  rail  on  top  and  heavy  scroll 
and  panel  work  at  the  end  of  walnut.  The  pulpit  is  a  neat 
little  affair  of  black  walnut,  with  ash  panels.  The  choir  is  of 
black  walnut.  The  wainscoting  is  of  alternate  strips  of  wal¬ 
nut  and  ash.  The  halls  and  ceiling  have  been  delicately  tinted 
almost  white,  and  the  windows  and  cornice  very  tastefully 
frescoed.  The  exterior  of  the  church  has  had  a  new  coat  of 
white  paint  put  on  it  and  looks  very  fresh  and  pure. 

The  wood-work  does  credit  to  Messrs.  Sorenson  &  Fred- 
erickson ;  the  painting,  to  Mr.  Pollard,  and  the  frescoing  to 
Mr.  Egge.  The  Church  deserves  great  credit  for  so  greatly 
improving  their  place  of  worship. 

*  Hon.  Jared  C.  Gregory,  a  son  of  Ebenezer  Gregory,  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Butternuts,  Otsego  county,  N.  Y.,  January  13,  1823;  studied  law 
at  Unadilla  and  Cooperstown,  N.  Y.,  where  he  practised  his  profession. 
He  was  candidate  for  Congress  in  the  19th  (New  York)  Congressional 
District,  in  1856,  but  was  defeated  by  Oliver  A.  Morse.  Mr.  Gregory  re¬ 
moved  to  Wisconsin  in  1858,  and  settled  at  Madison,  where  he  has  since 
made  his  residence.  He  was  elected  Mayor  in  the  spring  of  1873. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


361 


The  new  organ,  built  by  the  Marshall  Brothers  and 
Clarke  of  Milwaukee,  price  $3,600,  is  a  large  and  very  fine 
instrument.  Its  base  is  heavily  cased  in  black  walnut.  Its 
]5ipes  stand  alone  in  the  recess,  and  are  painted  chiefly  with 
two  shades  of  blue,  and  with  drab,  with  stripes  and  markings 
of  red  and  gilt.  It  has  two  manuals,  CC  to  A,  58  notes,  with 
pedal,  CCC  to  F,  30  notes. 

The  instrument  is  a  great  improvement  on  any  we  have  seen 
built  by  this  firm,  and  is  deserving  of  high  praise.  It  is  very 
powerful,  well  balanced,  its  voicing  exceedingly  good,  its 
quality  of  tone  excellent,  and,  indeed,  little  is  left  to  be 
desired. 

The  expense  of  the  repairs  was  about  $7,000. 

Rev.  L.  Y.  Hays,  of  Ottawa,  Ill.,  having  received  an  unani¬ 
mous  call  to  the  pastorate,  was  installed  to  that  office  on  June 
12.  Appropriate  exercises  were  held,  and  addresses  made  by 
Rev.  C.  L.  Thompson,  of  Chicago;  Rev.  Matthew  A.  Fox,  of 
Oregon,  Wis.;  Rev.  Mr.  Khott,  of  Lodi;  and  Rev.  G.  F.  Huh- 
tihg,  of  Kilbourn  City. 

The  dwelling  house  located  on  the  corner  of  Wisconsin  Av¬ 
enue  and  Clymer  street,  was  moved  off  in  the  month  of  June 
of  this  year,  to  make  room  for  a  more  moderh  structure  to  be 
erected  by  Glen.  D.  Atwood  for  a  private  residence.  This 
house  was  one  of  the  old  landmarks  of  the  city,  and  has  not 
been  without  its  historic  incidents.  Gen.  Atwood  in  an  editor- 
ial  in  the  State  Journal  of  June  10,  says:  u  It  was  erected  in  1842 
by  Peter  H.  Yah  Bergeh,  Esq.,  through  whose  energy  many 
of  the  finest  buildings  in  Madison  were  constructed.  His  last 
effort  in  building,  we  believe  was  the  erection  of  what  is  now 
the  Opera  House  block.  In  the  early  years  of  this  house,  a  se¬ 
lect  school  was  taught  in  it  by  J.  R.  Brigham,  Esq.,  now  of 
Milwaukee.  On  graduating  from  College,  Mr.  B.,  returned  to 
his  home  in  Madison,  and  issued  a  notice  for  a  select  school  in 
this  house,  and  hither  the  then  children,  now  men  and  women, 
some  of  whom  have  become  distinguished  in  the  land,  repaired 
and  received  instruction  in  the  rudiments  of  an  education.  The 
school  was  a  success,  and  we  are  happy  to  know  that  the 


362 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  ADD  THE 


young  teacher  has  also  proved  a  success  in  the  world.  He  now 
ranks  among  Milwaukee’s  most  enterprising,  intelligent  and 
prosperous  citizens. 

The  house  was  then  used  as  a  dwelling;  with  frequent  changes 
of  occupants,  for  many  years.  On  our  first  arrival  in  the  place, 
Abram  Ogdem,  Esq,  resided  there.  He  was  a  brother  of  Hon.  Wi. 
B.  Ogdeh,  of  Chicago,  whose  name  is  world  wide.  At  that  time 
Mr.  O.’s  family  were  all  around  him.  The  writer  well  remem¬ 
bers  that  one  of  the  first  calls  he  made  in  Madison  was  at  this 
house,  where  he  spent  a  pleasant  evening  with  the  young  ladies 
of  Mr.  Ogdem’s  family,  now  Mrs.  J.  D.  Welch  and  Mrs.  S.  B- 
Bartlett.  Since  then,  it  has  been  occupied  by  Mrs.  Jesse  A, 
Clark,  William  Welch,  Dr.  Gray,  Dr.  Rudd,  Alfred  Earl, 
Wm.  I.  Gordoh,  Geo.  Caproh,  and  perhaps  others,  as  a  private 
residence. 

In  the  winter  of  1853,  the  house  became  specially  noted,  as 
“  Monks’  Hall.”  Under  this  title  its  reputation  was  extensive. 
Our  neighbor  of  the  Democrat  a  few  days  ago,  spoke  of  it  as  the 
political  headquarters  of  the  “  Forty  Thieves.”  This  was  not 
wholly  correct.  That  thieves  existed  there  during  the-  winter, 
we  are  not  disposed  to  deny;  but  they  were  not  wholly  of  any 
political  party,  iyir  were  they  wholly  of  that  set  known  in  the 
State  as  the  Forty  Thieves.”  W  e  think  there  were  at  least 
forty  of  them,  and  their  conduct  was  no  better  than  that  of  the 
regular  forty,  but  we  would  not  willingly  charge  all  the  sins  of 
“  Monk’s  Hall,”  during  the  winter  of  1853  to  the  parties  known 
as  the  “Forty  Thieves.”  Added  to  their  other  sins,  this  would 
be  too  much.  It  was  perhaps  the  first  great  railroad  session  of 
the  Legislature  of  Wisconsin.  The  “Rock  River  Valley  Union 
Railroad  Company,”  which  had  a  blooming  existence  at  that 
time,  and  which  has  figured  somewhat  extensively  in  foreign 
countries  since,  was  asking  legislation,  and  this  old  house  be¬ 
came  the  headquarters  of  that  organization  under  the  euphoni¬ 
ous  name  of  “  Monk’s  Hall.”  It  was  here  that  members  were 
taken  in  and  done  for;  they  were  fed  here,  and  they  took  liquid 
beverages  in  the  same  place;  rates  were  fixed  with  various  ap¬ 
pliances,  and  nights  were  often  made  hideous.  But  we  will  not 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


363 


attempt  to  give  a  detailed  history  of  that  winter  at  “  Monk’s 
Hall.  Most  of  the  prominent  actors  in  the  scenes  of  that  time 
have  gone  to  their  long  home;  and  we  willingly  throw  the  veil 
of  oblivion  over  many  of  their  deeds  during  this  eventful  win¬ 
ter,  and  trust  the  after  lives  of  the  individuals  engaged  in  the 
work  of  that  sess  ion  at  Monk’s  Hall,  have  good  enough  in 
them  to  compensate  for  the  evils  of  that  time.  The  operations 
of  that  winter  in  this  building,  may  he  insignificant  compared 
with  those  that  have  since  occurred  in  matters  pertaining  to 
railroads,  hut  in  the  then  innocent  condition  of  our  people,  be¬ 
fore  railroads  had  reached  our  place,  the  scenes  of  that  winter 
were  deemed  especially  hard. 

The  old  house  is  gone,  and  mechanics  have  already  com¬ 
menced  the  construction  of  a  new  one  on  the  same  lot,  which 
it  is  hoped  will  be  better  suited  to  the  location  and  the  age  in 
which  we  live,  than  was  the  old  one,  whose  history  we  have 
briefly  given.” 

One  of  the  finest  improvements  of  the  city  for  the  year  1873, 
was  the  High  School  Building ,  which  was  completed  and  pre¬ 
pared  for  occupation  for  the  term  commencing  January  5, 
1874.  We  are  indebted  to  the  “  State  Journal  ”  for  the  follow¬ 
ing  description: 

“For  the  benefit  of  non-resident  readers,  it  may  he  well  to 
say  that  it  is  located  on  Wisconsin  avenue,  on  the  site  of  the 
old  building,  and  is  built  of  W aterloo  brick,  resting  on  a  high 
stone  basement.  It  more  nearly  approaches  the  Italian  style 
of  architecture  than  any  other,  with  a  Chinese-like  tower,  four¬ 
teen  feet  square,  the  top  of  the  staff  above  the  belfry  being  114 
feet  from  the  ground. 

“  Gr.  P.  Rahdall  &  Co.,  of  Chicago,  are  the  architects.  The 
contract  was  let  to  James  Livsey,  who  did  the  mason  work,  and 
H.  N.  Moultom  was  sub-contractor,  and  did  the  carpenter 
work.  The  total  contract  price  was  $20,000,  but  it  was  found 
necessary  to  excavate  a  little  farther  than  was  at  first  intended, 
so  as  to  get  through  clay  into  gravel,  which  added  a  few  hun¬ 
dred  dollars  to  the  original  estimate.  Mr.  Livsey’s  bill 
amounted  to  something  over  $8,000,  and  Mr.  Moulton’s  to 


364 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


$12,000,  for  everything  but  the  furniture.  D.  R.  JoisES,  of  this 
city,  was  the  supervising  architect.  The  work  is  admirably  done. 

“  The  main  building  is  63  by  44,  with  a  wing  35  by  36,  and  is 
two  stories  high  with  a  basement.  The  basement  is  9  feet  6 
inches  from  floor  to  ceiling,  the  first  story  13  feet  4  inches  and 
the  second  stor}^  14  feet  6  inches. 

“  The  main  entrance,  on  Wisconsin  avenue,  up  a  flight  of 
nine  stone  steps,  is  into  a  vestibule,  12  by  18  feet.  This  opens 
to  the  left,  into  the  office  and  Superintendent’s  room,  16  b}^  23, 
in  the  east  wing.  At  the  end  of  the  vestibule  is  the  main  hall, 
11  by  28  feet.  To  the  left  is  the  lunch  room,  15  by  23,  in  the 
wing.  This  is  for  those  who  bring  their  dinners.  From 
the  end  of  the  hall  is  the  two  covered  walks,  for  boys  and  girls, 
to  the  well  arranged  and  ventilated  brick  building  in  the  rear, 
18  by  28.  To  the  right  of  the  main  hall  is  a  long  hall,  5  feet 
wide,  leading  to  the  vestibule  and  door  on  Johnson  street, 
and  on  each  side  of  this  wing  is  a  school  room  24-4  by  35  feet, 
each  prepared  to  seat  40  pupils,  and  each  having  a  dressing 
room  5  by  25  feet. 

u  From  the  main  hall  are  stairs  leading  to  the  upper  corridor, 
11  by  13.  To  the  right  from  this  corridor  is  a  door  into  the  wing. 
This  is  one  of  the  pleasantest  rooms  in  the  building,  23-10  by 
33  feet  with  desks  for  45,  and  from  it  is  a  door  leading  into  a 
dressing  room  11  by  20,  located  over  the  vestibule.  There  is 
also  a  door  from  the  corridor  to  this  room.  To  the  left  of  the 
corridor  is  a  door  into  the  High  School  room,  in  the  main 
building,  on  Wisconsin  avenue.  It  is  33  by  41  feet,  and  will 
seat  90  pupils.  The  building  will  now  seat  221  students.  From 
this  room  and  the  corridor  are  doors  to  the  boys’  dressing- 
room,  10x27 ;  the  library,  14x27,  and  the  recitation  room,  15x27. 
The  library  is  to  be  used  as  a  recitation  room  for  the  present. 

u  The  building  is  wainscoted,  the  school  rooms  3  feet  from 
floor,  the  corridor  5,  and  the  dressing  rooms  7  feet.  The  walls 
in  the  school  room  are  prepared  for  chalk  some  distance  above 
the  wainscoting,  by  a  green  preparation  of  prepared  slate. 
The  windows  have  weights  and  inside  blinds;  the  floors  are 
double,  narrow  pine,  and  the  upper  one  is  u  deafened.”  The 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


365 


work  is  admirably  finished,  and  was  grained  in  oak  by  Mr.  Pol¬ 
lard  of  this  city.  The  building  is  heated  by  three  large  and 
three  small  Boynton  furnaces.  They  are  yoked  together  in 
pairs,  the  large  one  on  the  off  side,  as  is  usual  with  oxen.  In 
moderate  weather  the  small  ones  work  alone;  in  colder  weather 
the  large  ones  work  alone,  and  in  very  cold  weather  they  all 
work  together.  They  were  put  in  admirably  under  the  super¬ 
vision  of  Mr.  Cammack,  of  the  firm  of  M.  Joachim  &  Co.,  of  this 
city.  The  ventilation  is  on  the  improved  Ruttan  system,  the 
foul  air  passing  through  a  perforated  base  board  and  to  the 
foul  air  shaft,  6  feet  square  and  62  feet  high.  This  is  an  ad¬ 
mirable  arrangement  for  health  and  comfort,  and  too  much 
praise  cannot  be  bestowed  on  the  Board  for  introducing  it. 

u  The  basement  is  roomy  and  well  arranged  for  taking  fresh 
cold  air  for  the  furnace,  storing  coal  and  managing  the  heating 
apparatus ;  in  fact  from  the  bell  in  the  tower  to  the  brick  of  the 
basement  floor,  it  is  convenient  and  complete,  an  educational 
temple  which  some  of  the  great  men  of  the  future  will  remem¬ 
ber  with  delight,  we  hope. 

“  The  following  is  a  list  of  members  of  the  Board  of  Education: 
J.  H.  Carpenter,  President;  W.  T.  Leitch^  E.  Burdick,  Alex. 
Kerr,  Robt.  Wootton,  Jas.  Conklin,  J.  C.  Gregory  and  J.  C. 
Ford. 

“  The  Building  Committee  are  E.  Burdick,  J.  H.  Carpenter 
and  J.  C.  Gregory.” 

From  the  annual  report  of  the  Board  of  Education  for  the 
year  1873,  we  learn  the  whole  number  of  school  children  be¬ 
tween  4  and  20,  was  1,842  males,  1,955  females;  total  3,798; 
number  of  pupils  in  all  schools  enrolled,  1,183;  Receipts, 
$37,785.41;  of  which  $25,000  was  from  loan  from  school  land 
commissioners;  and  expenditures  $34,760.62,  of  which  amount 
$17,072.43  was  for  building  High  School;  $12,105.22 for  teacher’s 
wages,  and  the  remainder  for  fuel,  janitors,  repairs,  etc.  The 
whole  number  of  teachers  employed,  25.  Samuel  Shaw,  Su¬ 
perintendent. 

The  following  statistics  of  the  improvements  in  Madison  in 
1873,  are  also  taken  from  the  State  Journal: 


366 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


“  Any  one  living  or  visiting  here,  who  has  “  kept  his  eyes 
open,”  must  have  noticed  that  there  has  been  considerable 
building  going  on  during  the  past  year  in  our  beautiful  city, 
including  some  substantial  business  blocks  and  handsome  resi¬ 
dences;  but  few  we  apprehend,  realize,  what  the  figures  below 
show,  that  over  $300,000  has  been  expended  in  building  im¬ 
provements  in  the  Capital  City  during  the  past  year.  The 
buildings  erected  too,  like  most  of  those  constructed  within  the 
last  few  years,  in  substantial  material,  good  workmanship  and 
beauty  of  design,  will  compare  favorably  with  those  of  any  city 
of  its  size  in  the  State.  We  submit  a  list  of  the  principal 
buildings  during  the  past  season,  for  which  we  are  mainly  in¬ 
debted  to  Mr.  W.  T.  Fish,  of  the  firm  of  Fish  &  Stephens, 
one  of  our  principal  contractors  and  builders: 

FIRST  WARD. 

The  new  Congregational  Church,  built  of  Madison  stone,  from 
the  quarries  of  Messrs.  Fish  &  Stephens,  is  nearly  completed 
at  a  cost,  including  furnishing  of  about  -  -  -  $40,000 

The  High  School  building  on  Wisconsin  avenue,  built  of  cream 

colored  brick,  with  stone  trimmings,  cost  about  -  22,000 

The  splendid  residence  of  A.  H.  Main,  on  Langdon  street,  built 

of  brick  and  cost  6, 500 

Mrs.  Neeley  Gray,  on  Washington  avenue,  has  built  a  neat 

brick  house,  costing  -  3,500 

Mr.  Alex.  Gill’s  brick  store,  on  State  street,  cost  -  -  3,500 

Mr.  Thomas  Rock  has  made  additions  to  his  residence  to  the 

amount  of  .......  2, 000 

SECOND  WARD. 

The  flouring  mill  and  brewery  so  recently  destroyed  by  fire,  have 
been,  by  the  energy  of  the  respective  proprietors  Messrs. 
Robbins  &  Thornton  and  Mr.  John  Rodermtjnd,  entirely 
replaced  by  new  and  substantial  structures  and  machinery,  at 


a  cost  of  nearly  ......  50,000 

The  solid  cut-stone  walls  of  the  new  Methodist  Church  on  Wiscon¬ 
sin  avenue,  are  nearly  up  to  the  auditorium  floor,  and  have 
cost  thus  far  about  ......  10,000 

Mr.  Truman  Bird’s  Carriage  Repository,  on  Main  street,  22x66 

of  brick  cost  -------  5,500 

Mr.  E.  M.  Williamson’s  cottage  residence  on  Pinckney,  street, 

cost  .......  2,500 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


367 

Mr.  J.  H.  Stewart  has  made  additions  and  alterations  to  his 
purchase  of  the  late  residence  ot  D.  R.  Garrison,  Esq.,  to  the 
amount  of  -  -  -  -  -  8,000 

THIRD  WARD. 

Eairchild  estate,  elegant  stone  store,  on  Main  street,  adjoining  the 

Vilas  House,  28  by  63,  three  stories,  occupied  by  B.  Kohner,  8, 000 
Edward  Sumner’s  fine  new  residence  of  cream  colored  brick,  cor¬ 


ner  of  Wisconsin  avenue  and  Wilson  street,  -  -  7,000 

Casper  Mayer’s  handsome  stone  saloon,  22x63,  on  Main  street,  6, 500 
Ramthen’s  brick  hotel  near  the  C.  &  N.  W.  R.  R.  depot  5,500 
Mr.  J.  G.  Ott,  brick  residence,  ....  5,500 

Mr.  O.  C.  Mallows,  brick  residence,  -  -  -  5,000 

Heltman’s  planing  mill,  cost  ....  4, 000 


FOURTH  WARD. 


Messrs.  Daggett,  Fred  Mohr,  Christophers  &  Co,  have  united 
in  erecting  a  substantial  brick  block,  66  feet  front,  by  about 
85  feet  deep,  on  Main  street,  costing  some  -  -  16,000 

The  residence  of  Gen.  David  Atwood,  a  model  of  convenience, 
enclosed  and  ready  for  plastering,  to  be  finished  July  1, 1874, 
and  will  cost  from  $12,000  to  15, 000 

Prof.  B.  M.  Worthington’s  elegant  residence  on  Wilson  street 

built  of  cut  stone,  cost  .....  7,000 

Alderman  Thos.  Dean’s  planing  mill  on  Main  street,  cost,  5,000 

Mr.  John  Fay’s  neat  residence  of  brick,  cost  -  -  3,200 

Mr.  Wm.  Slightam’s  new  house  of  brick,  cost  -  -  2, 000 

Mr.  F.  Bliss  has  a  new  frame  house,  costing  -  -  2, 000 

Opposite  the  county  offices,  on  Fairchild  street,  near  the  court 
house,  is  Chandler  P.  Chapman’s  building  for  abstract  office 
and  fire-proof  vaults,  costing  -  -  -  -  3, 800 


STATE  WORK. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  the  work  of  building  the  coal  vaults,  re¬ 
moving  the  boilers  and  finishing  the  basement  of  the  capitol 
building,  as  well  as  other  improvements  in  and  about  the 
State  building  and  grounds,  have  furnished  employment  to 
many,  and  have  cost  about  -  $35,000 

At  the  Hospital  for  the  Insane  has  been  added  a  new  stone 
building  for  an  ice  house,  also  one  for  a  carpenter  shop,  cos¬ 
ing  about  ------  7, 000 


368 


HIS  TOBY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


MINOR  BUILDINGS. 

Many  smaller  buildings  have  also  been  completed  during  the 
year,  and  many  Valuable  and  costly  improvements  to  other 
properties  have  been  made,  among  which  we  refer  to  the 
changing  of  the  fronts  of  the  old  Fairchild  block  and  the 
transmogrification  of  the  old  Argvs  office  into  a  steam  ba¬ 
kery,  together  costing  some  thousands.  A  considerable  num¬ 
ber  of  small  cottages  have  been  built.  All  these  minor  im¬ 
provements  would  probably  aggregate  -  -  -  50,000 

In  the  month  of  November,  Mrs.  Laura  A.  Richards,  of 
this  place,  formerly  of  Sparta,  Wis.,  presented  to  the  Congre¬ 
gational  Church  a  hell  from  the  foundry  of  Meheely  &  Kim¬ 
berly,  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  of  2,043  pounds  weight,  being  some 
800  pounds  heavier  than  any  other  bell  in  the  city,  and  costing 
over  $1,000.  Its  rich,  deep  tones  were  heard  for  the  first  time 
on  the  22d  of  November,  and  were  greatly  admired. 

From  Braihard’s  City  Director,  for  1873,  the  following 
business  statistics  have  been  taken:  Dealers  in  agricultural  im¬ 
plements,  7  firms;  attorneys,  23  firms;  banking  institutions, 
8;  blacksmiths,  10;  booksellers  and  stationers,  4;  boot  and  shoe 
dealers,  8  firms;  breweries,  5;  contractors  and  builders,  6;  car¬ 
riage  and  wagon  manufactories,  6;  tobacco  and  cigars,  7;  cloth- 
ers,  10;  druggists,  6;  dry  goods,  13;  fruits  and  confectionery,  7; 
furniture,  5;  gentlemen’s  furnishing,  5;  grocers,  30;  hardware, 
3;  harness  makers,  8;  furriers  and  hatters,  3;  hotels,  16;  livery 
stables,  4;  lumber  dealers,  4;  meat  markets,  8;  millinery,  5; 
music  dealers,  4;  house  painters,  5;  photographers,  4;  physi¬ 
cians,  15;  printing  and  publishing,  8 ;  real  estate  dealers,  4;  in¬ 
surance  agencies,  10;  saloons,  25;  jewelry  stores,  7,  and  a  large 
variety  of  the  usual  occupations  now  found  in  every  place,  not 
above  enumerated. 

On  the  19th  of  October,  1873,  the  1  Farwell  Mills,’  which,  at 
the  date  of  their  erection,  were  hardly  surpassed  in  the  north¬ 
west,  were  a  smoking  ruin,  hiding  the  body  of  one  of  the  em¬ 
ployes  in  the  debris.  The  enterprising  proprietors,  Messrs. 
Robbihs  &  Thorhtoh,  immediately  took  the  preliminary  steps 
toward  putting  up  a  new  mill.  On  the  17th  of  November  the 
work  of  erection  begun,  and  on  the  21st  of  February,  1874, 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


369 


with  all  its  complicated  machinery,  it  had  progressed  so  far 
that  the  feed  stone  begun  grinding,  and  soon  after  was  in  the 
full  tide  of  successful  operation. 

Externally,  the  mill  is  four  square,  the  same  size  as  the  old 
mill,  without  the  disused  wing,  and  is  four  stories  high,  with 
unspliced  timbers,  50  feet  long  on  a  side;  4  by  6  joists  and  tim¬ 
bers,  46  feet  long,  also  unspliced,  perpendicularly.  It  is  set  up 

feet  higher  than  the  old  mill.  The  sides  are  covered  with 
matched  boarding,  sheathing  paper  and  clap  boarding,  thus 
making  the  building  very  warm,  and  painted  a  pearl  color, 
with  dark  drab  trimmings.  The  roof  is  flat,  thoroughly 
tinned.  It  has  also  an  observatory  commanding  an  extensive 
view.  One  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  feet  of  timber  were  used 
on  the  mill. 

Lake  Mendota  furnishes  the  motive  power,  as  it  pours  over 
four  turbine  wheels,  each  self-supporting,  one  of  which  is  65 
inches  in  diameter;  a  second,  56  inches;  a  third,  66  inches, 
and  the  other  60  inches.  There  are  five  run  of  stone  of  the 
best  French  burr.  Within,  the  mill  throughout  is  supplied 
with  all  the  modern  improvements  found  advantageous  in  mak¬ 
ing  the  very  best  quality  of  flour,  and  furnished  with  the  most 
perfectly  adjusted  and  easily  controlled  machinery,  which  runs 
without  jar  and  almost  without  noise. 

The  annual  city  election  took  place  on  the  7th  of  Aprils 
1874.  There  was  but  little  of  the  activity  and  enthusiasm 
sometimes  shown.  For  the  office  of  Mayor,  Hon.  H.  H.  Giles* 
Republican  candidate,  received  505  votes,  and  S.  U.  Pihhey,* 
the  Democratic  and  Liberal  candidate,  1,015,  who  was  elected 
by  a  majority  of  510.  Gottleib  Grimm  received  942  votes  for 
Treasurer,  against  Richard  Lyhch,  who  received  585  votes. 

*  Hon.  Silas  U.  Pinney  is  a  son  of  J.  C.  Pinney,  a  native  of  Becketr 
Berkshire  county,  Mass.  He  was  born  at  Rockdale,  Crawford  county,  Pa., 
March  3,  1833,  to  which  place  his  parents  had  removed  in  1815,  and,  in 
1846,  to  Dane  county,  Wis.  Was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  February,  1854, 
and  has  ever  since  practiced  his  profession  in  this  city.  Mr.  Pinney  was' 
City  Attorney  in  1858 ;  a  member  of  the  City  Council  in  1865,  and  elected' 
Mayor  at  the  spring  election  of  1874. 


370 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


Thomas  C.  Bourke,  Geo.  A.  Masom,  Johm  G.  Ott  and  L.  D. 
Stome  were  elected  Supervisors.  The  Aldermen  elected  were: 
1st  ward,  Geo.  Memhard  and  Thos.  Haydem;  2d  ward,  T.  B. 
Worthimgtom  and  W.  K.  B arhey;  3d  ward,  Darwim  Clark 
and  F.  M.  Dorm;  4th  ward,  P.  L.  Spoomer,  Jr.,  and  M.  P. 
Walsh.  For  Municipal  Judge,  A.  B.  Braley|  received  an 
unanimous  vote  — 1,489. 

Mr.  Pimmey,  the  Mayor  elect,  in  his  message  on  taking  the 
office,  gave  the  following  statistics:  the  receipts  of  the  past 
year  were,  $112,720;  the  expenditures,  $85,037;  leaving  a  bal¬ 
ance  on  hand  of  $27,684.  The  bonded  debt  of  the  city  amounts 
to  $230,000,  of  which  $50,000  is  capital  extension,  the  rest 
mostly  compromise  bonds. 

Alderman  Bumker  was  elected  President  of  the  Council,  and 
Johm  Corscot  unanimously  elected  City  Clerk.  The  Mayor 
nominated  the  following  officers,  who  were  unanimously  con¬ 
firmed:  Chief  of  Police,  Amdrew  Bishop.  Ward  Policemen: 
T.  C.  Bourke,  1st;  H.  A.  Dyke,  2d;  W.  A.  Bradley,  3d,  and 
Johm  L.  Lewis,  4th. 

The  City  Council  elected  the  following  officers:  Street  Super¬ 
intendent,  Amdrew  Bishop;  City  Attorney,  Chas.  K.  Temmey; 
City  Surveyor,  James  Quirk;  Janitor,  Johm  Joy;  Poundmas- 
ter,  Ezra  Squires;.  Member  of  Board  of  Education,  C.  P. 
Chapmam. 

A  resolution  was  adopted  fixing  the  pay  of  city  officers,  as 
follows: 

City  Clerk,  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  $1,000  00 

City  Treasurer,  -------  800  00 

Street  Superintendent,  -  -  .  -  -  1,000  00 

|  Arthur  B.  Braley  was  born  in  Wyoming  county,  N.  Y.,  February  n, 
1822;  came  to  Wisconsin  in  1835,  settled  at  Delavan,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  practice  of  law  in  1848,  by  Judge  Dunn,  then  Territorial  Judge.  He 
practiced  his  profession,  fin  1849,  at  Johnstown,  Rock  county;  came  to 
Madison  in  1853,  an<^  was  a  Pai*tner  of  Judge  S.  H.  Roys.  In  1869,  he  re¬ 
moved  to  Waukesha,  but  subsequently  returned  to  Madison.  He  has  held 
the  office  of  Police  Justice  for  the  years  1856  to  1861,  inclusive,  and  in  1872 
..and  1873,  anc^  Municipal  Judge,  1874.  In  1868,  he  was  City  Attorney. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN.  371 

"City  Attorney,  -  -  -  -  -  -  250  00 

City  Assessor,  -  -  -  -  -  -  500  00 

Chief  Engineer  Fire  Department,  -  -  -  150  00 

Assistant  Engineer  Fire  Department,  ...  50  00 

Engineers  of  Steamers,  ------  400  00 

Firemen  of  Steamers,  -----  100  00 

Stewards  of  Steamers,  with  leather  liose,  -  -  -  50  00 

Stewards  of  Steamers,  with  rubber  hose,  -  -  -  25  00 

Janitor  (besides  ’  $1  for  use  of  hall  each  night,  paid  by  hirer), 

per  day,  -  -  *  -  -  -  -  1  50 

Poundmaster  (besides  fees),  per  day,  -  -  -  -  1  00 


In  the  month  of  April  a  new  iron  bridge  was  set  np  across 
the  Yahara,  to  take  the  place  of  the  one  consumed  by  fire  in 
October,  1873.  The  new  bridge  is  known  as  the  Perry  &  Al¬ 
len  Eureka  Wrought  Iron  Bridge,  and  was  manufactured  by 
O.  B.  Olmstead  &  Co.,  of  Beloit.  This  bridge  is  a  single  span, 
of  eighty  feet,  and  the  floor  is  sixteen  feet  wide  in  the  clear;  its 
ends  rest  upon  two  buttresses  of  solid  masonry.  It  is  com¬ 
posed  mainly  of  eight  lower  straining  cords  —  four  on  a  side  — 
each  of  which  is  one  and  a  half  inches  in  diameter,  supported 
by  two  arches,  each  of  which  consists  of  eight  arch  cords,  of 
one  and  a  half  inches  in  diameter;  the  arches  and  straining  cords 
being  connected  and  braced  by  a  vast  number  of  iron  rods.  All 
the  iron  used  in  the  structure  is  wrought,  except  the  massive 
.shoes  which  confine  the  ends  of  the  arches  and  straining  cords, 
and  the  clamps  confining  the  arch  cords  where  they  break 
joints. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  month  of  March,  a  chime  of  nine 
bells  was  received  from  the  foundry  of  Octavous  Jones,  Troy, 
N.  Y.,  for  Grace  church,  and  on  the  first  of  April  were  hung 
in  place.  The  largest,  “  The  Bishop’s  Bell,”  or  tenor  bell,  and 
one  known  as  the  seventh  was  purchased  bj^  general  subscrip¬ 
tion.  The  others  are  individual  gifts,  the  donors  indicated  by 
the  subscriptions,  except  the  eighth ,  which  was  the  gift  of  Mrs. 
Waterman. 

The  tenor,  third  and  fifth  are  mounted,  and  can  be  rung 
separately,  or  as  a  peal.  All  are  arranged  with  wires  and  lev- 


372 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


ers  for  chiming,  and  can  be  played  either  on  the  key  of  E  flat, 
from  one  to  eight  of  the  scale,  or,  by  substituting  the  flat  sev¬ 
enth  D  flat  for  the  seventh  (D  natural),  in  the  key  of  A.  flat, 
from  five  to  five  of  the  scale.  All  tunes  to  be  played  on  the 
chimes  will  be  transposed  into  one  or  the  other  of  these  keys. 

We  are  indebted  to  the  Rector  of  the  church,  Rev.  Join* 
Wilkinson,  for  the  following  schedule  of  the  chime,  with  key, 
weight  and  inscription  of  the  several  bells  in  their  order. 

SCHEDULE. 

No.  1. — Key  E  flat.  Weight,  2,531  lbs.  The  Bishops’ Bell.  In  memory 
of  the  Rt.  Rev.  Jackson  Kemper,  D.  D.  and  the  Rt.  Rev.  Wm.  Edmond 
Armitage,  S.  T.  D,  first  Bishops  of  Wisconsin.  “  They  rest  from 
their  labors,  and  their  works  do  follow  them.” 

No.  2. — Key  F.  Weight,  1,601  lbs.  In  memoriam.  Emma  Eugenia  Baker, 
ob.  A.  D.  1856.  “  He  gathereth  the  lambs  in  his  arms.” 

No.  3. — Key  G-.  Weight,  1,  364  lbs.  The  gift  of  Mrs.  Amelia  Curtiss  Ful¬ 
ler,  who  entered  into  rest,  A.  D.  1872.  “  Blessed  are  the  dead  who 
die  in  the  Lord.” 

No.  4.— Key  A  flat.  Weight,  1,068  lbs.  In  memory  of  Sarah  Maria 
Proudfit.  “  The  maid  is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth.” 

No.  5. — Key  B  flat.  Weight,  819  lbs.  The  Children’s  Bell.  To  the 
glory  and  praise  of  the  Holy  Child  Jesus,  “  and  the  children  crying 
in  the  Temple,  Hosanna  to  the  son  of  David.” 

No.  6. — Key  C.  Weight,  669  lbs.  In  memory  of  Mrs.  Emma  Fuller 
Stevens,  who  died  A.  D.  1870.  “  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth.” 
No.  7. — Key  D  flat.  Weight,  604  lbs.  In  loving  memory  of  William, 
John  and  James  Sullivan.  “Numbered  with  Thy  Saints, in  glory 
everlasting.”  M.  A.  S. 

No.  8. — Key  D.  Weight,  526  lbs.  “  We  praise  Thee,  O  God.” 

No.  9. — Key  E  flat.  Weight,  415  lbs.  “  Glory  be  to  God  on  High.” 

“The  new  Congregational  church — Rev.  C.  H.  Richards, 
pastor  —  the  construction  of  which  has  been  watched  with  in¬ 
terest,  not  only  by  the  members  of  the  society  for  whom  it  has 
been  built,  but  by  the  community  generally,  was  dedicated  on 
the  3d  day  of  May.  The  event  was  the  most  important  one  in 
the  history  of  the  Congregational  church  of  Madison,  the  pio¬ 
neer  church  of  the  capital,  having  been  organized  in  1840,  and 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


373 


whose  chapel,  built  in  1858,  has  long  been  much  too  small  for 
the  uses  of  the  Society.  The  following  facts  in  regard  to  this 
edifice,  which  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  commodious  in 
the  State,  and  an  ornament  to  the  city,  in  which  every  public 
spirited  citizen  will  take  a  pride,  will  be  of  interest. 

“  The  church  is  built  of  gray  cut  stone,  in  the  shape  of  a 
Greek  cross,  with  the  arms  of  equal  length.  It  was  designed 
by  G.  P.  Randall,  of  Chicago,  and  is  similar  to  the  beautiful 
structure  built  by  the  same  architect  for  the  Union  Park 
Church  in  Chicago.  Its  construction  has  been  under  the  su¬ 
perintendence  of  Mr.  D.  R.  Jones,  architect  of  this  city.  The 
cornerstone  was  laid  June  13,  1872,  and  the  walls  were  nearly 
finished  at  the  end  of  that  year.  In  1873,  the  exterior  of  the 
building  was  completed,  and  most  of  the  work  in  the  interior  of 
the  main  audience  room,  but  the  finishing  touches  were  not 
given  to  it  till  within  the  last  few  weeks.  The  basement  is  not 
finished,  and  will  not  be  at  present.  The  length  of  each  axis 
of  the  church  is  about  80  feet,  and  it  is  adorned  with  a  steeple 
180  feet  high.  It  is  intended  ultimately  to  put  a  front  on  the 
old  chapel  which  adjoins  the  new  church,  and  opens  into  it, 
harmonizing  with  the  main  edifice,  and  making  all  one. 

In  the  audience  room  —  to  which  there  are  two  entrances,  in 
front  and  rear  —  the  seats  are  arranged  in  semicircles,  about  the 
the  pulpit,  with  five  aisles,  and  a  graceful  gallery  encircles  the 
entire  room,  that  portion  of  it  in  the  rear  of  the  pulpit  being 
occupied  by  the  organ  and  choir.  There  are  152  pews  in  the 
auditorium,  with  siittings  for  650  on  the  floor,  and  350  in  the 
gallery,  leaving  ample  space  for  the  accommodation  of  two  or 
three  hundred  more  with  extra  seats.  Ample  arrangements 
have  been  made  for  the  perfect  ventilation  of  this  audience 
room,  both  in  summer  and  winter.  “  a  consummation  devoutly 
to  be  wished  ”  by  all  church-goers.  It  is  heated  with  Boynton 
furnaces,  of  such  power  and  capacity  as  to  make  it  seem  certain 
that  the  Ruttan  ventilation  will  be  thoroughly  secured. 

“  Of  those  engaged  in  the  erection  of  this  church,  we  may  men¬ 
tion  Fish&  Stephens,  as  the  builders  of  the  mason  work;  Sor¬ 
enson  &  Frederickson,  as  having  done  the  carpenter  work; 


374 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


Bishop  &  Murray,  as  the  plasterers;  and  Pollard  &  Egge,  as 
the  painters,  all  of  this  city.  The  beautiful  stained  glass  win¬ 
dows  were  made  by  Misch  Brothers,  of  Chicago ;  and  the  taste¬ 
ful  frescoing  was  done  by  Schubert  &  Koehig,  of  the  same 
city,  with  an  artistic  skill  that  has  elsewhere  won  them  a  repu¬ 
tation  as  being  among  the  best  workmen  in  this  department  in 
the  northwest. 

“  The  carpets  are  a  rich  dark  red  ingrain,  and  the  cushions 
of  the  harmonious  tint  of  ‘  ponso 1 ;  this  portion  of  the  fur¬ 
nishing  having  been  energetically  carried  forward  by  the 
ladies  of  the  Society,  many  of  whom  have  labored  inde- 
fatigably  in  the  good  cause,  and  the  upholstery  has  been  under 
the  skilful  direction  of  W.  B.  Barckham,  of  this  city. 

“The  splendid  bell  that  summons  the  worshippers  to  the 
house,  the  gift  of  Mr.  L.  A.  Richards,  was  cast  by  Meheeley 
&  Kimberly  of  Troy,  and  weighs  2,045  pounds. 

“  The  organ,  one  of  the  largest  and  finest  in  the  State,  was 
built  by  Marshall  Brothers’  Organ  Manufacturing  Company 
of  Milwaukee,  and  has  three  manuals  of  keys,  two  octaves  of 
pedals,  and  36  stops. 

At  the  dedicatory  services  held  on  the  3d  day  May,  after 
the  delivery  of  the  sermon  by  Rev.  J.  S.  Bihgham,  D.  D.,  of 
Dubuque,  Iowa,  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  F.  J. 
Lamb,  Esq.,  read  a  statement  of  the  financial  condition  of  the 
Society,  as  follows: 

“  The  cost  of  the  church  building  proper  was  $37,716.47,  as 
follows: 


Mason  work, . $16,729  30 

Carpenters, .  15,805  00 

Plastering, .  1,275  00 

Windows, .  1, 100  00 

Iron  work, .  600  00 

Painting, .  873  00 

Frescoing, . 400  00 

Architects’  plans, .  934  17 


“  The  appurtenances  of  the  church  cost  $10,950,  as  follows: 


Gas  fixtures,  . $935  00 

Lumber,  walks,  etc.,  . 260  00 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN.  375 

Furnaces,  etc., .  600  00 

Lot  cost, .  1,200  00 

Carpets,  etc., .  880  00 

Upholstering, .  800  00 

Bell, . 1,000  00 

Chairs, . • .  150  00 

Lectern, .  50  00 

Communion  set, .  75  00 

Communiontable, .  30  00 

Organ, .  5,000  00 


“  This  made  the  aggregate  cost  of  the  church,  so  far  as  com¬ 
pleted,  $34,666.47. 

“  There  has  been  raised  and  paid  on  this  outlay,  from  the 
general  subscription  list,  $24,300.  There  has  been  paid  by 
specific  donations  (including  sundry  items  specified  in  the  list 
of  contributions  elsewhere,  and  also  the  bell  by  Mrs.  S.  M. 
Richards,  $1,000,  and  the  chairs  by  J.  B.  Boweh,  $150,  not 
specified),  $1,320. 

“There  has  thus  been  paid  in  all,  $25,620;  leaving  unpaid, 
$23,046.47.  Of  this,  a  permanent  loan  of  $10,000,  is  made  of 
the  Northwestern  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company,  and  there 
is  owing  to  the  builders,  $7,013.47;  for  the  organ,  $5,000;  to 
Timothy  Browh,  $1,033. 

“  To  meet  this,  there  is  available  on  original  subscription, 
$3,500;  on  organ  subscription,  $1,320,  making  a  total  of  $4,821, 
and  leaving  to  be  provided  for  at.  once,  $18,225.47. 

“  After  reading  this  statement  an  effort  was  made  to  por- 
vide  for  the  liquidation  of  the  debt,  which  was  very  successful, 
and  it  was  announced  at  the  close  of  the  appeal,  that  more 
than  $20,000  had  been  assumed  and  pledged  —  more  than  enough 
to  meet  the  whole  debt.1’* 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  elegant  dwelling  of  Genr 
David  Atwood  on  lot  4,  block  85,  corner  of  Wisconsin  avenue 
and  Clymer  street.  The  following  is  an  account  of  the  building 
and  its  internal  arrangements: 

The  house  fronts  on  Wisconsin  avenue,  and  the  main  part  is 
nearly  square,  being  45  by  46  feet,  two  full  stories  high,  with 


*  From  the  State  'Journal ,  May  4,  1874. 


376 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


French  or  Mansard  roof,  thus  giving  a  complete  third  story. 
In  rear,  is  a  wing,  29  by  26  feet,  one  story  high,  with  French 
roof.  The  front  door  opens  into  a  vestibule  and  hall,  9  feet 
wide,  which  extends  back  thirty  feet.  Opening  from  it  to  the 
left  is  a  double  parlor,  16  by  29  feet;  to  the  right,  the  sitting 
room  is  entered,  being  16  by  15  feet,  with  a  large  bay  window; 
adjoining  that,  with  double  doors  between,  is  a  library  room, 
and  adjoining  that,  is  a  large  bed  room  with  bath  room  and 
clothes  press  attached.  From  the  end  of  the  hall,  the  dining 
room  is  entered,  the  size  of  which  is  14  by  26  feet.  These 
rooms  occupy  the  first  story  in  the  main  part,  which  is  12  feet 
in  the  clear.  In  the  wing  is  the  kitchen,  with  the  necessary 
pantries,  etc.  The  cellar  extends  under  the  whole  building, 
and  under  the  kitchen  part,  a  room  is  finished  for  a  laundry. 
The  second  floor  of  the  main  part,  is  divided  into  six  chambers, 
a  hall  and  bathing  room,  with  closets  for  each  room.  In  the 
third  story,  a  hall  extends  the  length  of  the  house,  with  rooms 
on  either  side.  The  second  story  of  wing  is  divided  into  three 
bed  rooms,  and  a  store  room,  with  closet  for  each.  The  rooms 
on  the  first  and  second  floors  are  supplied  with  hot  and  cold 
water.  Drainage  from  all  parts  of  the  house  into  the  lake,  is 
secured.  Four  rooms  —  the  parlor,  dining  room,  library  and 
bed  room  —  have  fire  places  with  grates.  The  mantels  were 
furnished  by  Abij ah  Abbott,  Esq.  The  house  is  built  of  light 
colored  brick,  made  at  Waterloo,  and  presents  a  fine  appear¬ 
ance.  It  is  thoroughly  finished  from  top  to  bottom,  and  style 
and  convenience,  there  are  but  few  if  any,  superior  to  it,  in  the 
city.  All  the  contractors  have  performed  their  work  promptly 
and  well;  and  Mr.  Atwood  and  family  moved  into  their  new 
residence  in  July,  1874. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Hays  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  on  Sunday, 
May  4,  preached  his  first  anniversary  sermon,  and  gave  the 
following  statistics :  received  as  members  on  profession  of  faith 
34,  by  letter  17,  total  57.  Contributed  to  foreign  missions 
$250,  home  missions  $185,  education  $109,  church  erection, 
$102,  relief  fund  $89,  sustentation  $33,  publication  $29,  freed- 
men  $27,  total  $1,077;  also,  for  congregational  expenses,  includ¬ 
ing  part  for  repairs,  $8,868. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


377 


Of  late  years,  Madison  has  been  visited  in  the  summer  sea¬ 
son  by  tourists  from  southern  cities,  who  find  it  a  desirable 
and  pleasant  location  to  spend  their  annual  vacation.  Few  lo¬ 
calities  possess  the  advantages  of  Madison  in  natural  beauty  of 
scenery.  Volumes  could  be  filled  with  descriptive  letters  writ¬ 
ten  by  the  most  distinguished  literary  men  of  the  country, 
and  published  in  various  magazines  and  newspapers,  setting 
forth  the  charms  of  our  city.  Some  of  these  articles  we  have 
before  alluded  to. 

The  opening  of  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railroad, 
northwest  of  Madison,  has  opened  up  to  tourists  the  romantic 
scenery  of  the  Devil’s  Lake  and  Baraboo  Bluffs;  and,  although 
this  section  is  not  strictly  included  in  our  history,  a  short  no¬ 
tice  of  these  points,  we  think,  will  be  acceptable  to  the  reader. 
We  quote  from  Maj.  H.  A.  Tenney’s  account: 

“The  bluffs  of  the  Wisconsin  at  the  point  where  the  Bara¬ 
boo  river  embouches  into  the  valley,  are  600  feet  in  height.  In 
the  midst  of  this  enormous  rocky  stratum,  is  a  deep  fissure  or 
gorge,  depressed  over  400  feet  from  the  surface,  hemmed  in  by 
mighty  precipices,  which  constitute  the  basin  of  a  body  of  wa¬ 
ter  about  a  mile  and  a  half  in  length  b}r  a  half  mile  in  breadth, 
known  as  the  Devil’s  Lake.  It  reposes  like  a  dew  drop  in  its 
mighty  casket,  and  from  its  profound  depths  reflects  the  dark 
shadows  of  the  beetling  crags  that  environ  it.  The  level  of 
the  waters  is  190  feet  above  the  Wisconsin  river,  and  it  is  sup¬ 
posed  that  the  bottom  reaches  below  that  of  the  river.  There 
is  not  in  the  west  a  sample  of  as  bold,  ragged  and  striking 
scenery,  or  one  more  pleasing  to  the  tourist.  The  country 
about  has  been  the  former  seat  of  intense  igneous  action,  and 
it  is  generally  supposed  that  the  cavity  was  created  by  the 
sinking  of  the  bottom  through  volcanic*  agency.  This  is  not, 
probably  correct,  but  no  explanation  of  the  origin  of  this 
strange  lake  has  ever  been  vouchsafed,  at  least  no  satisfactory 
one.  A  two  hours’  ride  on  the  cars  from  Madison  will  land  the 
visitor  directly  on  the  shore,  and  a  small  steamer  will  give  him 
every  opportunity  for  exploration.  The  whole  section  is  wild 

and  full  of  interest.” 

25 


378 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


A  history  of  Madison  and  the  Four  Lake  Country  would 
not  he  complete  without  referring  to  the  “  Great  Cave  of  Dane 
County.1’*  We  are  indebted  to  Maj.  H.  A.  Tenney  for  the  fol¬ 
lowing  description: 

“About  11  miles  distant,  and  a  little  southwest  of  Madison  r 
near  the  crest  of  the  dividing  ridge  which  separates  the  lake 
region  from  the  valley  of  Sugar  river,  there  exists  the  basin  of 
an  ancient  pond  or  lake  covering  about  four  thousand  acres, 
whose  waters  have  long  since  departed,  and  whose  drainage  is 
directly  into  the  face  of  a  bluff.  This  inlet,  a  quarter  of  a  cen¬ 
tury  ago,  was  penetrated  to  a  depth  of  nearly  two  thousand 
feet,  and  yet  has  never  been  fully  explored,  or  its  mysterious- 
depths  examined  by  mortal  eye.  It  is  about  five  hundred  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  four  Lakes,  and  the  ppenings  apparently 
tend  to  the  west.  Sugar  river  is  about  one  and  a  half  miles 
distant,  but  no  evidence  has  ever  been  discovered  to  warrant 
the  belief  that  these  waters  any  where  enter  or  make  a  part  of 
that  stream.  All  indications,  indeed,  point  to  the  certainty 
that  it  is  an  entrance  to  that  vast  subterranean  river  system 
known  to  permeate  the  lead  region  at  a  great  depth,  and  whose 
unknown  outlet  may  be  hundreds  of  miles  away.  Early  ex¬ 
plorers  always  halted  from  fatigue  or  lack  of  adequate  prepara¬ 
tion  to  proceed,  and  not  because  the  way  was  not  open;  and 
nothing  like  an  end  has  ever  been  reached. 

“The deposit  in  which  this  immense  grotto  exists,  is  the  cliff 
or  upper  magnesian  limestone,  which  at  this  point  is  known  to 
be  underlaid  by  a  sandstone  formation,  whose  thickness  is  prob¬ 
ably  forty  or  fifty  feet.  That  the  channel  has  been  cut  down 
to  this  more  friable  material,  at  some'  point  of  its  course,  is  not 
doubted,  and  hence  it  is  naturally  concluded  that,  if  followed 
to  the  line  of  junction,  the  dimensions  of  the  cave  would  swell 
to  colossal  proportions.  As  it  exists  at  present,  there  are  four 
narrow  entrances,  badly  choked  by  the  debris  fallen  at  the 
mouth,  or  material  carried  in  by  currents.  The  two  most 
southern  openings  unite  at  the  distance  of  some  fifty  or  sixty 

*  This  cave  is  located  on  the  northeast  part  of  section  5,  in  the  town  of 
Verona,  on  lands  belonging  to  Mr.  D.  Richardson. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


379 


feet,  from  whence  caVern  succeeds  cavern,  so  far  as  known,  for 
thousands  of  feet.  Once  within  this  rocky  chamber,  there  was 
formerly  no  serious  obstacle  to  progress;  but  the  present  diffi¬ 
culty  of  entrance  has  kept  thousands  from  the  spot.  It  has 
also  had  the  effect  of  keeping  the  walls  of  the  interior  openings 
in  a  much  damper  condition  than  they  otherwise  would  be,  by 
preventing  the  draft  of  outer  air,  which  passes  steadily  through 
the  whole  known  extent  of  the  cavern.  The  far  inner  rooms 
have  all  the  usual  characteristics  of  the  most  noted  caves  in  the 
country.  Pendent  stalactite  has  its  corresponding  stalagmite, 
at  present  much  discolored  by  the  newly  added  sediment.  The 
walls  are  worn  into  strange  and  fantastic  shapes,  and  everywhere 
exhibit  the  erosive  power  of  rushing  water.  Long  corridors 
and  halls,  whose  smooth,  rocky  sides  would  seem  to  bid  defiance 
to  any  power,  connect  the  numerous  vestibules  and  chambers, 
some  of  which  are  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  in  height,  and  of 
great  and  almost  unknown  depth. 

“  That  the  cave  consists  of  several  stories  is  evident  from  nu¬ 
merous  indications,  both  exterior  and  interior.  It  is  proved  by 
the  sound  of  voices  when  large  parties  are  exploring  the  nu¬ 
merous  ramifications;  by  variations  in  level;  and  more  particu¬ 
larly  by  a  whirlpool  in  seasons  of  flood,  outside  the  entrance, 
which  proves  that  the  ancient  channel  has  been  choked  by 
fallen  rocks,  and  underlies  the  whole  cavern  thus  far  examined. 
It  is  still  further  proved  by  the  clean  cut  bank  of  the  outside 
water  course,  whose  bottom  is  several  feet  below  the  present 
entrance  —  an  impossible  achievement  if  they  were  the  natural 
inlet.  Still  further,  no  pond  or  water  ever  remains  in  front  of' 
the  cave,  in  the  basin  below  the  existing  entrance  level,  which 
would  be  impossible  if  it  did  not  have  a  subterranean  escape. 
Once  cleared  of  accumulated  debris ,  and  instead  of  one  or  more, 
there  would  probably  be  found  a  cave  of  several  stories,  the 
lower  of  which  would  amply  suffice  to  drain  the  region,  leav¬ 
ing  the  others  ordinarily  dry  and  intact.  Until  this  is  done, 
the  full  extent  and  beauty  of  this  mighty  freak  of  nature  will 
never  be  fully  known  or  appreciated.  Parties  living  close  at 
band  give  wonderful  accounts  of  the  phenomena  witnessed 


380 


HISTORY  OF  MADISON  AND  THE 


after  great  and  sudden  floods,  when  the  waters,  dammed  back 
by  the  choked  entrance,  rise  ten  or  fifteen  feet  against  the  face 
of  the  cavern,  compressing  the  inner  air,  which  escapes 
through  small  fissures,  to  the  crest  of  the  hill,  with  a  hiss  and 
a  roar  somewhat  akin  to  the  shriek  of  a  steam  whistle.  At  one 
spot,  indeed,  the  conversation  of  parties  deep  in  the  cave  can 
be  heard  directly  overhead,  showing  that  if  extra  ventilation 
were  ever  needed  it  could  be  easily  provided  for.  Anything 
like  floods,  in  this  elevated  basin,  however,  are  extremely  rare, 
and  could  only  occur  after  long  continued  rains,  or  the  sudden 
melting  of  great  and  heavy  bodies  of  snow.  No  rain-fall  from 
May  to  November  has  ever  been  known  large  enough  to  send 
any  water  into  the  opening,  nor  does  any  enter  during  the 
months  of  winter. 

“  It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  drift-wood  and  other  ma¬ 
terial  have  been  allowed  access,  and  to  accumulate  in  such 
quantities  as  to  preclude  thorough  explorations.  Fossil  re¬ 
mains  of  the  mastodon,  the  mammoth  and  the  elephant,  as  well 
as  of  other  extinct  species,  have  been  found  in  deep  fissures  in 
various  parts  of  the  lead  region;  and  there  is  every  reason  to 
suspect  their  existence  here.  These  cavities  originated  from  a 
common  cause,  and  have  a  natural  relation  to  each  other.  Sci¬ 
ence  had  much  to  anticipate  from  the  revelations  of  this  vast 
subterranean  tunnel.  Its  buried  chambers,  of  curious  form  and 
magnificent  proportions  would  have  been  the  delight  of  future 
generations,  if  rendered  accessible.  Possibly  the  entrance  rub¬ 
bish  of  the  lowest  cavity  may  yet  be  removed,  and  by  that 
means  the  upper  chambers  be  cleansed  and  restored.  In  any 
event,  the  spot  will  be  visited  by  the  curious,  as  it  is  unlike  any 
other  cavern  in  the  country,  and  the  only  one  whose  entrance 
is  at  its  source,  and  not  the  mouth.  The  darkness  that  hides  its 
interior  secrets  covers  a  great  mystery.” 

In  closing  up  our  histor}^,  we  would  only  say  that  we  have 
endeavored  simply,  but  faithfully  to  portray  Madison  as  it  was 
and  has  become.  Thirty-seven  years  have  wrought  many 
changes.  A  few  of  those  who  came  here  at  the  beginning  of 
the  settlement  of  the  town  still  remain.  Our  good  friend  Mrs. 


FOUR  LAKE  COUNTRY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


381 


Peck  resides  at  Baraboo,  of  which  place  she  was  also  the  first 
settler.  Gren.  Simeon  Mills,  Darwin  Clark,  Esq.,  and  Mrs. 
Prosper  B.  Bird  still  reside  here.  Of  the  other  settlers  of 
1837-38,  a  number  are  residents  of  other  Wisconsin  towns.  Few 
realize  the  privations  of  those  who  came  here  as  pioneers  to 
subdue  the  country  to  the  wants  of  civilization.  They  per¬ 
formed  their  work  patiently  and  well,  and  we  live  to  reap  the 
fruit  of  their  labors. 

The  future  is  before  us.  Ours  may  never  be  a  city  remarka¬ 
ble  for  mammoth  proportions,  manufactures  and  the  busy  life 
that  characterizes  a  metropolis,  but  in  all  that  makes  it  a  de¬ 
lightful  place  of  residence,  with  its  unsurpassed  advantages  of 
beauty  and  healthfulness  of  location,  educational,  literary  and 
other  privileges,  we  are  assured  that  its  fame  will  not,  cannot 
grow  less,  but  that  steady  progress  is  before  it,  and  that  Madi¬ 
son  will  ever  maintain  a  proud  place  among  the  growing  and 
prosperous  cities  of  our 'State  and  of  the  West. 


APPENDIX 


LIST  OF  OFFICERS  OF  THE  CITY  OF  MADISON, 

FROM  ITS  INCORPORATION  IN  1856,  TO  AND  INCLUDING  THE  YEAR  1874. 


1856. 

Mayor — Jairus  C.  Fairchild.  Street  Superin’t — (Senior  Aldermen). 

Clerk — William  N.  Seymour.  Marshal — Fred.  Mohr. 

Treasurer — Johnson  J.  Starks.  City  Attorney — David  R.  Coit. 
Police  Justice — Arthur  B.  Braley.  City  Surveyor — P.  W.  McCabe. 

ALDERMEN. 

First  Ward — Abiel  E.  Brooks,  Thomas  Heeran,  Adam  Kraez. 

Second  Ward— Napoleon  B.  Yan  Slyke,  John  N.  Jones,  David  J. 
Powers. 

Third  Ward — Charles  George  Mayers,  Peter  H.  VxnBergen,1  Wil¬ 
liam  F.  Baker,2  Algernon  S.  Wood. 

Fourth  Ward — Seth  M.  Yan  Bergen,  Joseph  Hobbins,  Timothy  Kin¬ 
ney. 

1  Resigned.  2  Elected  Aug.  28, 1856. 


1857. 

Mayor — Augustus  A.  Bird.  Police  Justice — Arthur  B.  Braley. 

Clerk — William  N.  Seymour.1  Street  Superin’t— (Senior  Aldermen). 

Stephen  H.  Carpenter.2  Chief  of  Police — Andrew  Bishop. 
Treasurer — Fred.  Sauthoff.  City  Att’ys — Abbott,  Clark  &  Coit. 

City  Surveyor — William  M.  Hough. 

ALDERMEN. 

First  Ward — Abiel  E.  Brooks,  Thomas  Heeran,  Casper  Zwicky. 
Second  Ward— Napoleon  B.  Yan  Slyke,  David  J.  Powers,  Julius  T. 
Clark.3 


384 


APPENDIX . 


Third  Ward — Charles  George  Mayers,  John  G.  Griffin,  David  R. 
Hyer. 

Fourth  Ward— Seth  M.  Van  Bergen,  Timothy  Kinney,  Jos.  Hobbins. 

1  Disabled  by  stroke  of  paralysis.  2  Elected  Oct.  7,  1857.  8  Resigned  March  3,  1858. 
Vacancy  filled  at  charter  election. 


1858. 

Mayor — George  B.  Smith.  Street  Superintend — Simeon  Mills. 

Clerk — Henry  Wright.  City  Attorney — Silas  U.  Pinney. 

Treasurer — James  K.  Proudfit.  City  Surveyor — Wm.  M.  Hough.1 

Police  J ustice — Arthur  B.  Braley.  Levi  P.  Drake.2 

City  Assessor — Henry  K.  Edgerton. 

aldermen. 

First  Ward — Thomas  Heeran,  A.  Sherwin,  Simeon  Seckles. 

Second  Ward — David  J.  Powers,  Eri  S.  Oakley,  James  Jack. 

Third  Ward — John  G.  Griffin,  Darwin  Clark,  Christian  Hinrichs. 
Fourth  Ward — Timothy  Kinney,  Cassius  Fairchild,  Patrick  L.  Dow¬ 
ling. 

1  Died.  2  Elected  Dec.  20, 1858. 


1859. 

Mayor — George  B.  Smith.  Street  Sup’t — Simeon  Mills.1 

Clerk— Charles  George  Mayers.  Willard  Knight.2 

Treasurer — Andrew  Sexton.  City  Attorney — John  R.  Baltzell. 

Police  Justice — Arthur  B.  Braley.  City  Surveyor — J.  A.  Ligowski. 
Chief  of  Police — John  Shealey.  City  Assessor — Henry  Wright. 

ALDERMEN. 

First  Ward — A.  Sherwin,  John  Zehnpfennig,  William  Dudley. 
Second  Ward — Eri  S.  Oakley,  Joseph  Bayer,  Wiillam  Hawley. 
Third  Ward— Darwin  Clark,  Fred.  C.  Festner,  Ezra  C.  Squires. 
Fourth  Ward — Cassius  Fairchild,  John  A.  Byrne,  Joseph  Hobbins. 
1  Resigned.  2  Elected  May, 23, 1859. 


1860. 


Mayor — George  B.  Smith. 

Clerk — Charles  Geo.  Mayers. 
Treasurer — J.  C.  Schette. 

Police  Justice— A.  B.  Braley. 

City  Assessor — ’ 


Street  Superintends — J.  A.  Slavin.  1 
Chief  of  Police— F.  S.  Van  Bergen.2 
City  Attorney— C.  Ainsworth. 

City  Surveyor— P.  W.  McCabe, 
avid  H.  Wright. 


MADISON  CITY  OFFICES  S. 


385 


ALDERMEN. 

First  Ward — John  Zehnpfennig,  Farrel  O’Bryan,  P.  H.  Turner. 
Second  Ward — Joseph  Bayer,  Jas.  W.  Sumner,  Daniel  K.  Tenney. 
Third  Ward — Fred.  C.  Festner,  Darwin  Clark,  Kyron  Tierney. 
Fourth  Ward — John  A.  Byrne,  Timothy  Kinney,  John  Y.  Smith. 

1  Resigned  January  5, 1861.  2  Elected  January  5,  1861. 


1861. 

Mayor — Levi  B.  Yilas.  Police  Justice — A.  B.  Braley. 

Clerk — Charles  Geo.  Mayers.  1  Street  Superintendent  and  Chief 

William  A.  Hayes.  2  of  Police — F.  S.  Van  Bergen. 

Treasurer — Fred.  C.  Festner.  City  Surveyor — Levi  P.  Drake. 

City  Assessor — George  H.  Barwise. 

ALDERMEN. 

First  Ward - Farrel  O’Bryan,  George  E.  Bryant,  3  Peter  H. 

Turner. 

Second  Ward — James  W.  Sumner,  Daniel  K.  Tenney,  J.  Alder 
Ellis. 

Third  Ward — Darwin  Clark,  Kyron  Tierney,  John  George  Ott. 
Fourth  Ward — Timothy  Kinney,  George  B.  Seekles,  J.  Y.  Smith. 

1  Resigned  November  14, 1861.  2  Elected  Nevember  14,  1861.  3  Resigned  February  24, 
1862.  Vacancy  unfilled  until  charter  election,  April  1, 1862. 


1862. 

Mayor— William  T.  Leitch.  Street  Superintendent  and  Chief 

Clerk — William  A.  Hayes.  of  Police— Andrew  Bishop. 

Treasurer — Fred.  B.  Hutching.  City  Att’ys — Wakeley  &  Yilas. 
Police  Justice — C.  Ainsworth.  City  Surveyor — Levi  P.  Drake. 
City  Assessor — Peter  H.  Turner. 

ALDERMEN. 

First  Ward— John  Kavanaugh,  2  Eliab  B.  Dean,  Jr.,  Gottlieb  Grimm. 
Second  Ward — Daniel  K.  Tenney, 3  Jairus  H.  Carpenter,4  Tru¬ 
man  E.  Bird,  A.  C.  Davis. 

Third  Ward— Kyron  Tierney,  C.  W.  Hyel,  W.  M.  Rasdall,  James 
Ross. 

Fourth  Ward— George  B.  Seekles,6  Ed.  C.  Kavanaugh,  Charles 
H.  Luce,  John  Dunn.  4 

1  Appointed  September  16,  1862.  2 To  fill  vacancy.  3 Resigned  September  15,1862. 
4  Elected  September  29,  1862.  6  Resigned  September  18,  1862.  6  Resigned  September  15, 
1862. 


386 


APPENDIX. 


1863. 

Mayor — William  T.  Leitch.  Police  Justice — C.  Ainsworth. 

Clerk — Willam  A.  Hayes.  City  Attorney — Chas  T.  Wakeley. 

Treasurer — C.  W.  Heyl.  Street  Superintendent  and  Chief 

City' Surveyor — P.  W.  McCabe.  of  Police — A.  Bishop. 

City  Assessor — Peter  H.  Turner.1 

ALDERMEN. 

First  Ward— Eli ab  B.  Dean,  Jr.,  John  Monaghan,  J.  Zehnpfennig. 
Second  Ward— Truman  E.  Bird,  Jairus  H.  Carpenter,  H.  M.  Lewis. 
Third  Ward— C.  W.  Heyl,2  Kyron  Tierney, 3  James  Ross,  John  T. 
Steyens,  4  Henry  Winckler.  5 

Fourth  Ward — Ed.  C.  Kavanaugh, Hiram  1ST.  Moulton,4  Timothy  Kin¬ 
ney,  5  Joseph  Hobbins,4  J.  M.  Dickinson.5 

1  Resigned.  Fred  Mohr  appointed  May  2,  1863.  2  Resigned  April  10,  1863.  3  Elected 
April  17, 1863.  4  Resigned  December  28, 1863.  6  Elected  January  6,  1864. 


1864. 

Mayor— William  T.  Leitch.  Street  Superintendent  and  Chief  of 

City  Clerk — Wm.  A.  Hayes.1  Police — John  B.  Hyland. 

S.  H.  Carpenter.2  City  Attorney — John  R.  Baltzell, 

Treasurer — C.  W.  Heyl.  City  Surveyor — Patrick  McCabe. 

Police  Justice — James  M.  Flower.  City  Assessor — John  Reynolds. 

ALDERMEN. 

First  Ward — John  Monaghan,  Andrew  Wald,  Ebenezer  Sprague,3 
Arthur  B.  Braley.4 

Second  Ward — Jairus  H.  Carpenter,  Henry.  M.  Lewis,  Timothy 
Brown. 

Third  Ward — James  Ross,  Kyron  Tierney,  Ernst  Doerschlag. 
Fourth  Ward— Timothy  Kinney,  J.  M.  Dickinson,  George  D.  Lincoln. 

1  Resigned  June  11,  1864,  2  Elected  June  11,  1864.  3  Resigned  June  3, 1864.  *4Elected 

June  14,  1864. 


1865. 

Mayor — Elisha  W.  Keyes.  Street  Superintendent  and  Chief  of 

Clerk— S.  H.  Carpenter.  Police — Ira  W.  Bird. 

Treasurer — John  Reynolds.  City  Surveyor — P.  W.  McCabe.1 

Police  Justice— James  M.  Flower.  Levi  P.  Drake.2 

City  Attorney — H.  W.  Tenney.  City  Assessor — Wm.  T.  Leitch. 


AADISON  CITY  OFFICERS . 


387 


ALDERMEN. 

First  Ward — Andrew  Wald,  Arthur  B.  Braley,  John  Heeran. 
Second  Ward — Henry  M.  Lewis,  L.  S.  Ingman,  John  Corscot. 

Third  Ward — Kyron  Tierney,  Ebenezer  Sprague,  August  Her- 
furth. 

Fourth  Ward — J.  M.  Dickinson,3  Silas  U.  Pinney,4  Thaddeus  W. 
Gibbs,  Johnson  J.  Starks. 

1  Removed  July  14,  1865.  3  Elected  July  14,  1865.  3  Resigned  June  2,  1865.  4  Elected 
June  9,  1865. 


1866. 

Mayor — Elisha  W.  Keyes.  Street  Superintendent — I.  W.  Bird. 

Clerk — S.  H.  Carpenter.  Chief  of  Police — Ben.  F.  Larkin. 

Treasurer — S.  V.  Shipman.  City  Attorney — C.  T.  Wakeley. 

Police  Justice — John  R.  Baltzell.  City  Surveyor — Levi  P.  Drake. 
City  Assessor — C.  G.  Mayers. 

ALDERMEN. 

First  Ward — Arthur  B.  Braley,  James  Conklin,  Hannibal  Lacher. 
Second  Ward  — L.  S.  Ingman,  Henry  M.  Lewis,  John  Corscot. 

Third  Ward — Ebenezer  Sprague,  Kyron  Tierney,  B.  M.  Nienaber. 
Fourth  Ward — Thad.  W.  Gibbs,  Geo.  W.  McDougal,1  Waldo  Abeel,2 
L.  D.  Stone,’  J.  C.  McKinney. 

1  Failed  to  qualify.  3  Elected  April  25,  1866.  Resigned  November  1,  1866.  3  Elected 
December  17,  1866. 


1867. 

Mayor — Alden  S.  Sanborn.  Chief  of  Police — Wm.  Hickey.1 
Clerk — S.  H.  Carpenter.  John  Shealey.2 

Treasurer — Geo.  Memhard.  City  Attorney— C.  T.  Wakeley. 

Police  Justice — JoiinR.  Baltzell.  City  Surveyor — P.  W.  McCabe. 
Street  Superintendent — A.  Bishop.  City  Assessor — Thos.  C.  Bourke.3 

ALDERMEN. 

First  Ward — James  Conklin,  Robert  Nichols,  Samuel  Engel. 

Second  Ward— Henry  M.  Lewis,  Myron  T.  Bailey,  A.  Riley  Jones. 
Third  Ward — Kyron  Tierney,  H.  Christoffers,  Peter  B.  Kissam. 
Fourth  Ward— L.  D.  Stone,  Hiram  N.  Moulton,  Simon  Foran. 

1  Removed  October  11,  1867.  3  Appointed  November  26,  1867.  3  Elected  September 
6, 1867. 


388 


APPENDIX. 


1868. 

Mayor — David  Atwood.  Street  Supt. — Andrew  Bishop. 

Clerk — Stephen  H.  Carpenter.1  Chief  of  Police — Josh.  W.  Tolford. 
Treasurer — James  Conklin.  City  Attorney — Arthur  B.  Braley. 

Police  Justice — John  R.  Baltzell.  City  Surveyor — P.  W.  McCabe. 

City  Assessor — Thomas  C.  Bourke.2 

ALDERMEN. 

First  Ward — Robert  Nichols,  Samuel  Engel,3  Anthony  McGovern. 
Second  Ward — Myron  T.  Bailey,  Robert  Wootton,  Halle  Steens* 
land. 

Third  Ward — H.  Christoffers,  Peter  B.  Kissam,  Ole  Thompson. 
Fourth  Ward — Hiram  N.  Moulton.  L.  D.  Stone,  A.  S.  Frank. 

designed  Oct.  10,1868,  and  John  Corscot  elected.  2  Term  expires  Sept.  7, 1868. 
3  Resigned  Sept.  4, 1868,  and  Fred.  Daubner  elected. 


1869. 

Mayor — Andrew  Proudfit.  Chief  of  Police — T.  C.  Botsford. 

Clerk — John  Corscot.  City  Attorney — A.  S.  Sanborn. 

Treasurer — William  Habich,  Jr.  City  Surveyor — P.  W.  McCabe. 
Police  Justice — John  R.  Baltzell.  Assessor — N.  L.  Andrews. 

Street  Supt.— Andrew  Bishop.  Pound  Master — A.  Koenig. 

aldermen. 

First  Ward — Geo.  Anderson,  D.  K.  Tenney,  Fred.  Daubner. 

Second  Ward — A.  R.  Jones,1  M.  T.  Bailey,  R.  Wootton. 

Third  Ward— H.  Winckler,2  J.  M.  Bowman,  P.  B.  Kissam. 

Fourth  Ward — S.  Foran,  Peter  Young,  L.  D.  Stone. 

1  Resigned  Dec.  4, 1869,  and  Walter  Deards  elected  Dec.  18,  1869.  2  Resigned  Jan.  8, 
1870,  and  J.  G.  Ott  elected  Feb.  21, 1870. 


1870. 

Mayor — Andrew  Proudfit.  Street  Supt. — Andrew  Bishop. 

Clerk — John  Corscot.  Chief  of  Police — J.  Shealey. 

Treasurer — Andrew  Pickarts.  City  Attorney — A  S.  Sanborn. 

Police  Justice — John  R.  Baltzell.  City  Surveyor — P.  W.  McCabe. 
Assessor— N.  L.  Andrews. 


MADISON  CITY  OFFICERS. 


389 


ALDERMEN. 

First  Ward — Fred.  Daubner,  F.  O’Brien,  Geo.  Anderson. 
Second  Ward — Walter  Deards,  A.  Daubner,  M.  T.  Bailey. 
Third  Ward— J.  M.  Bowman,  W.  H.  Karns,  H.  Winckler. 
Fourth  Ward— James  Ross,  H.  N.  Moulton,  S.  Foren. 


1871. 

Mayor — James  B.  Bowen.  Chief  of  Police — Chas.  C.  Hammer 

Clerk— John  Corscot.  City  Attorney— Jos.  C.  Ford. 

Treasurer — John  Lewis.  City  Surveyor — P.  W.  McCabe. 

Police  Justice— J.  R.  Baltzell.  Assessor — N.  L.  Andrews. 

Street  Supt. — Andrew  Bishop.  Pound  Master — W.  J.  Manning. 

ALDERMEN. 

First  Ward — Jas.  Conklin,  Henry  Yilas,  Ferd.  Daubner. 

Second  Ward — A.  Daubner,  C.  P.  Chapman,  Walter  Deards. 

Third  Ward— J.  G.  Ott,  W.  H.  Karns,  J.  M.  Bowman. 

Fourth  Ward— Thos.  Dean,  Estes  Wilson,  James  Ross. 


1872. 


Mayor — James  L.  Hill. 

Clerk — John  Corscot. 

Treasurer — Chas.  G.  Mayers. 
Police  Justice — A.  B.  Braley. 

Pound  Master- 


Street  Superintendent,  Surveyor — 
Levi  P.  Drake.1 
City  Attorney — Jos.  C.  Ford. 
Assessor — Wm.  T.  Leitch. 

— W.  J.  Manning. 


ALDERMEN. 

First  Ward — E.  Cook,  Geo.  Bunker,  Jas.  Conklin. 

Second  Ward — R.  Wootton,  C.  P.  Chapman,  A.  Daubner. 
Third  Ward — F.  M.  Dorn,  John  Lewis,  J.  G.  Ott. 

Fourth  Ward — Adrian  Webster,  Estes  Wilson,  Thos.  Dean. 
1  Resigned  Dec.  7,  and  Andrew  Bishop  appointed 


1873. 


Mayor— J.  C.  Gregory. 
Clerk— John  Corscot. 
Treasurer — Jas.  Farrell. 
Police  Justice — A.  B.  Braley. 


Street  Superintendent — A.  Bishop. 
City  Attorney — Chas.  K.  Tenney. 
Assessor — W.  T.  Leitch. 

Pound  Master — Isaac  Smith. 


390 


APPENDIX. 


ALDERMEN. 

First  Ward — Geo.  Bunker,  John  Heeran,  E.  Cook. 
Second  Ward — C.  P.  Chapman,  A.  Daubner,  R.  Wooton. 
Third  Ward — H.  Kleuter,  Darwin  Clark,  F.  M.  Dorn. 
Fourth  Ward— A.  Sexton,  T.  Dean,  Estes  Wilson. 


1874. 


Mayor — Silas  U.  Pinney. 

Clerk — John  Corscot. 

Treasurer — Gottfried  Grimm. 
Municipal  Judge — A.  B.  Braley. 
City  Surveyor — Jas.  Quirk. 


Street  Superintendent  and  Chief  of 
Police — A.  Bishop. 

City  Attorney— C.  K.  Tenney. 
Assessor— Wm.  F.  Leitch. 

Pound  Master — E.  Squires. 


ALDERMEN. 


First  Ward — Geo.  Bunker,  Geo.  Memhard,  Thos.  Hayden. 

Second  Ward — C.  P.  Chapman,  W.  K.  Barney,  T.  B.  Worthington. 
Third  Ward — H.  Kleuter,  D.  Clark,  F.  M.  Dorn. 

Fourth  Ward — A.  Sexton,  P.  L.  Spooner,  Jr.,  M.  P.  Walsh. 


DANE  COUNTY,  WIS. 


391 


DANE  COUNTY,  WIS. 


Dane  county,  so  named  in  honor  of  Nathan  Dane,  of  Massachusetts,, 
who  drafted  the  celebrated  ordinance  of  1787  for  the  government  of  the 
Northwestern  Territory,  is  situated  midway  between  Lake  Michigan  and 
the  Mississippi  river;  its  southern  boundary  being  twenty-four  miles 
north  of  the  south  line  of  the  state.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Col¬ 
umbia  and  Sauk  counties,  on  the  east  by  Dodge  and  Jefferson,  on  the 
south  by  Rock  and  Green,  and  on  the'west  and  northwest  by  Iowa  and 
the  Wisconsin  river.  Its  extent  is  forty-two  miles  from  east  to  west  and 
thirty-five  miles  from  north  to  south,  containing  one  thousand  two  hun¬ 
dred  and  thirty-five  miles,  or  709,400  acres  of  land. 

The  county  was  organized  into  a  separate  government  in  1839,  when  it 
contained  about  300  inhabitants.  The  United  States’  census,  taken  in- 
1870,  makes  the  number  53,109,  being  a  gain,  since  1860,  of  9,187. 

There  are  thirty-nine  towns  in  the  county.  Six  of  them  are  largely 
settled  by  Norwegians  and  six  by  Germans,  and  the  American  and  Euro¬ 
pean  nationalities  are  more  or  less  represented  in  all  of  the  towns. 

The  county  is  well  watered  by  lakes  and  streams,  and  the  soil  is  gen¬ 
erally  fertile;  in  some  parts  extensive  prairies  prevailing,  and  in  others- 
undulating  and  hilly  land.  Timber  is  plentifully  interspersed  through¬ 
out  the  county.  The  public  land  in  the  county  is  all  taken  up  and  the 
unimproved  land  remaining  can  only  be  obtained  from  speculators  and 
others. 

There  are  churches  of  all  denominations  throughout  the  county,  also 
public  and  private  schools.  The  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  railroad  runs 
through  it  westwardly ;  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern  runs  through  it 
going  northwest,  the  Milwaukee  <tnd  Watertown  runs  west  as  far  as  Mad¬ 
ison,  where  it  connects  with  the  main  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  line,  and 
the  Portage  and  Madison  road  runs  south  as  far  as  Madison,  and  efforts 
are  being  made  to  extend  the  same  southwestwardly  so  as  to  reach  the 
coal  beds  of  Illinois. 

The  valuation  of  the  taxable  property  in  the  county  in  1872,  as  calcu¬ 
lated  by  the  State  Board,  was  $24,393,808.  In  1870  there  were  20,69& 
horses ;  38,420  neat  cattle,  and  343  mules  and  asses ;  65,351  sheep  and 
lambs ;  122,812  swine ;  8,443  wagons,  carriages  and  sleighs  ;  1,296  watches  -r 
451  pianos  and  melodeons;  1,250  shares  of  bank  stock  in  the  county. 


392 


APPENDIX. 


which  with  the  value  of  merchants’  and  manufacturers’  stock,  $728,277, 
and  other  personal  property,  $1,804,004,  gave  a  total  value  of  $5,092,979. 
There  were  also  760,575  acres  of  wild  and  improved  land,  which  with 
city  and  village  lots  made  a  total  real  estate  value  of  $15,475,032. 

From  the  395,703  acres  of  improved  lands  in  the  county  in  1870,  there 
were  produced  respectively  of  wheat,  2,730,130  bus.;  rye,  18,398  bus.; 
corn,  931,264  bus.;  oats,  1,465,759  bus.;  barley,  148,003  bus.;  potatoes, 
345,852  bus.  Also,  74,369  tons  of  hay;  and  respectively  of  wool,  251,947 
pounds;  butter,  1,229,226  pounds;  cheese,  37,938  pounds;  hops,  51,915 
pounds.  The  estimated  value  of  all  this  farm  production,  including  bet¬ 
terments  and  additions  to  stock  is  $5,483,047,  and  of  the  manufactures 
produced  $1,121,563.  In  1870,  the  public  debt  of  the  county  was  $175,000, 
and  the  yearly  total  tax  levy  $287,072.  The  cost  of  paupers  for  the  year 
was  $6,000,  and  20  criminals  were  convicted.  There  were  222  libraries  in 
the  county,  containing  106,700  volumes.  There  were  75  church  organi¬ 
zations,  meeting  in  61  edifices,  with  a  seating  capacity  of  22,250,  and  a 
value  of  $165,200.  The  number  of  newspapers  was  eight,  with  a  circula¬ 
tion  of  19,170.  In  the  year  ending  August  31,  1873,  there  were  20,530 
school  children  in  the  county,  between  the  ages  of  4  years  and  20  years, 
and  the  total  value  of  the  school  property  was  $229,540. 

The  foregoing  brief  exhibit  of  the  agricultural,  manufacturing  and 
social  progress  and  condition  of  Dane  county,  gives  substantial  evidence 
on  which  to  predicate  the  continuance  of  a  prosperous  career  for  it  and 
its  people ;  and  as  it  is  the  largest  and  best  county  in  Wisconsin,  all  that 
its  people  need  for  their  continued  success  and  comfort,  is  to  keep  as 
they  have  done,  in  the  van  of  enterprise  and  material  and  social  devel¬ 
opment. 


DANE  COUNTY  TOWNS. 


393 


DANE  COUNTY  TOWNS.* 


ALBION. 

The  town  of  Albion  received  its  name  at  the  suggestion  of  Isaac 
Brown,  in  honor  of  his  former  place  of  residence  in  Orleans  county, 
New  York.  F.  Sweet,  the  first  white  inhabitant,  came  from  Oneida 
county,  New  York,  and  settled  on  section  23,  in  August,  1841.  In  Sep- 
tern  her,  1841,  Burr  and  Omen  Andersen,  from  Norway,  settled  on  sec¬ 
tion  2,  and  within  a  few  weeks,  Samuel  F.  Stewart,  from  Massachu¬ 
setts,  settled  on  section  14.  These  four  families  were  the  only  residents 
until  September,  1842,  when  Jesse  Saunders  and  D.  J.  Green  settled 
on  section  22,  on  what  has  since  been  called  Saunder’s  Creek,  where  the 
village  of  Albion  now  stands. 

These  two  families  were  the  first  “  Seventh  day  ”  people  in  the  town. 
They  were  followed  by  others  in  the  early  part  of  the  next  year,  among 
whom  were  Solomon  Head,  Adin  Burdick,  James  Weed  and  Hiram 
Bentley.  On  the  22d  of  June,  1843,  they  organized  a  Seventh  day  Bap¬ 
tist  Church,  which  now  has  over  three  hundred  members.  The  first  pas¬ 
tor  was  Rev.  O.  P.  Hull. 

Among  the  early  settlers  in  the  more  northern  part  of  the  town  were 
the  Marsdens,  Clarks,  Wildmans,  Halls,  Slaters,  Busseys,  and  oth¬ 
ers,  from  England,  who  soon  organized  a  Primitive  Methodist  Church, 
with  Rev.  Marsden  as  first  minister. 

Jesse  Saunders  opened  the  first  store.  D.  J.  Green,  the  first  hotel. 
The  first  school  was  built  by  the  Seventh  day  people,  voluntary  contribu¬ 
tions,  in  1843  or  1844.  Their  church  was  built  in  1861.  A  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  was  built  about  1868.  A  new  Primitive  Methodist 
Church  is  now  being  built.  Albion  Academy  and  Normal  Institute  was 
founded  in  1854.  Its  chief  work  is  the  qualification  of  teachers  for  com¬ 
mon  schools.  Annual  attendance  of  students  from  250  to  300.  There 
are  three  large  brick  buildings  with  grounds  containing  twelve  acres  of 
land.  The  corporate  property  is  valued  at  $50,000.  The  courses  of 
instruction  embraces  Classics,  Mathematics,  Metaphysics,  Natural  Sci¬ 
ences,  Normal  Course,  Yocal  and  Instrumental  Music,  Elocution,  Book¬ 
keeping  and  Spelling.  Hon.  C.  R.  Head,  president  ol  board  of  trustees. 

*  The  author  of  this  volume  is  indebted  to  Harrison  &  Warner,  publishers  of  the 
“Dane  County  Atlas,”  for  much  valuable  information  contained  in  these  notes. 

26 


394 


APPENDIX. 


Rev.  A.  R.  Cornwall,  principal.  No  licenses  have  ever  been  issued  in 
this  town. 

The  village  of  Albion  lies  in  the  central  part  of  the  town,  and  is  a 
small  settlement. 

The  township  lies  in  the  southeast  corner  of  Dane  county.  It  is  well 
watered,  and  the  lands  generally  are  of  an  excellent  quality.  Rice  lake 
is  about  six  miles  long,  north  and  south,  and  takes  a  part  of  sections  12 
and  13 ;  and  the  western  part  of  Lake  Koshkonong  covers  a  part  of  sec¬ 
tions  25  and  36. 

The  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  railroad  enters  the  township  from  the 
east  on  section  32  and  passes  out  at  the  southwest  part  of  section  30. 

The  township  of  Albion  is  known  also  in  the  government  survey  as 
township  5  north,  range  12  east. 

Population  in  1870,  1,142. 

BERRY. 

The  Township  of  Berry  is  situated  in  the  northwestern  portion  of  the 
county,  and  was  formerly  a  part  of  Springfield.  It  is  known  as  township 
8,  north  of  range  7,  east. 

In  1852,  a  town  meeting  was  held  at  the  school  house  in  District  No.  1, 
Jas.  Bowman  was  elected  Chairman;  O.  Kerl  and  E.  Ellis,  Supervi¬ 
sors;  Jno. Gray,  Town  Clerk;  John  Medd,  Treasurer;  A.  Ptjddleford, 
Assessor;  John  Wightman,  Thos.  Barber,  John  Savill  and  George 
Stevens,  Justices  of  the  Peace.  Among  the  early  settlers  were,  Mr. 
Wightman,  Mr.  Crowther,  A.  Skinner,  J.  Bonham  and  F.  Anhalt. 

The  surface  of  the  country  is  generally  hilly,  except  in  the  western 
part,  between  Halfway  Prairie  Creek  and  Spring  Creek.  The  soil  on  the 
bottom  lands  is  dark  loam,  and  on  the  high  lands  clay.  The  timber  is 
principally  white  oak.  Indian  Lake  lies  in  sections  2  and  11.  A  large 
part  of  the  inhabitants  are  Germans,  or  of  German  descent. 

The  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  Railroad  passes  through  sections  31  and 
32,  in  the  southwest  corner. 

Population  in  1870,  1,156. 

BLOOMING  GROVE. 

The  Town  of  Blooming  Grove  lies  in  the  central  part  of  the  county, 
adjoining  Madison  on  the  east,  of  which  it  was  part,  until  set  off  by  the 
County  Board  in  1850.  It  is  known  as  township  7,  north  of  range  10, 
east.  A  large  part  of  section  8,  the  north  half  of  section  17,  and  a  part 
of  section  20,  are  covered  by  Lake  Monona;  also  a  large  part  of  sections 
28  and  33  by  Lake  Waubesa. 

The  town  was  first  settled  in  1845,  by  R.  W.  Lansing.  J.  G.  Wolf,  J . 
Bechtel  and  Rev.  G.  B.  Miller  arrived  soon  after.  The  town  was  organ¬ 
ized  in  1850.  N.  W.  Tompkins  was  elected  Supervisor;  R.  W.  Lansing, 


DANE  COUNTY  TOWNS. 


395 


Superintendent  of  Schools  and  Justice  of  the  Peace.  The  first  marriage 
was  that  of  Albert  Barker  to  Alida  J.  Lansing,  in  1850,  performed 
by  Rev.  J.  Q-  Kanouse.  There  are  (1874)  11  school  districts  in  the  town. 

The  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  Railroad  enters  the  town  on  the  south 
line,  from  the  east,  on  section  34,  and  passes  through  sections  33,  29  and 
30,  where  it  proceeds  west,  through  Madison.  The  Watertown  division 
of  the  same  road  passes  through  sections  6  and  5,  east. 

Population  in  1870,  1,010. 

BLACK  EARTH. 

The  Township  of  Black  Earth  lies  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the 
county,  and  formerly  included  within  its  limits  the  Township  of  Mazo- 
manie.  It  is  known  as  township  8,  north  of  range  6  east,  and  is  com¬ 
posed  of  eighteen  sections  of  land — one-half  the  usual  number.  It 
derives  its  name  from  the  creek  that  passes  through  it. 

At  a  town  meeting  held  April  5,  1854,  Levi  E.  Thompson  was  elected’ 
Chairman;  H  M.  Warner  and  E.  L.  Pound,  Supervisors;  A.  H.  Hol¬ 
brook,  Town  Clerk;  Jas.  Hayes,  Assessor;  Thos.  Davis,  Treasurer, 

The  surface  of  the  country  is  generally  broken,  but  there  are  some 
excellent  bottom  lands  on  the  streams.  The  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul 
Railroad  follows  the  valley  of  the  creek,  entering  the  town  on  the  east 
line,  on  section  36,  and  passing  out  at  the  northwest  corner  of  section  22 
on  the  north  line  of  the  town.  There  are  a  large  number  of  Norwegians 
settled  in  this  town. 

The  village  of  Black  Earth  is  one  of  considerable  business,  and  is 
situated  on  section  26.  It  contains  a  grist  mill,  Congregational  and 
Methodist  churches,  hotel,  town  hall,  a  newspaper  office  and  a  number 
of  stores  and  shops.  It  was  incorporated  in  1857,  which  act  was  after¬ 
wards  repealed.  Population  in  1870,  966. 

BLUE  MOUNDS. 

The  Township  of  Blue  Mounds  is  situated  in  the  southwestern  part  of 
the  county,  known  as  township  6,  north  of  range  6  east. 

This  is  one  of  the  oldest  settled  towns  in  Dane  county — the  first  settler 
being  Col.  Ebenezer  Brigham,  an  account  of  whom  will  be  found  in 
the  former  part  of  this  volume.  He  first  settled  here  in  1828,  before  the 
territorial  organization.  The  town  was  organized  in  April,  1848.  There 
are  five  school  houses  and  four  churches — two  Lutheran,  one  Presbyte¬ 
rian  and  one  Methodist.  The  town  is  well  watered  by  small  streams,  and 
abounds  in  beautiful  scenery.  The  East  Blue  Mounds  is  in  the  northwest 
part  and  occupies  section  5  and  portions  of  4  and  6.  It  is  the  highest 
point  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  State  and  rises  to  an  altitude  of 
1,931  feet  above  the  sea  and  1,072.5  above  the  lakes  at  Madison.  From 
the  summit,  a  grand  panorama  is  spread  out;  objects  many  miles  distant 


396 


APPENDIX. 


are  distinctly  visible,  as  are  the  lead  regions  of  Illinois,  Iowa  and 
Wisconsin.  Mineral  shafts  abound  all  about  the  Mounds  filled  with 
ores  of  lead,  zinc,  copper,  pyrites,  spars,  and  the  ordinary  varieties  of 
matrix  that  inclose  this  class  of  mineral  treasures. 

The  eastern  part  of  the  town  is  settled  largely  by  Scandinavians.  Pop¬ 
ulation  in  1870, 1,165. 

The  postoffices  are  West  Blue  Mounds,  in  Iowa  county,  near  the  west 
line  of  Dane  county;  East  Blue  Mounds,  corner  of  sections  10, 11,  14 
and  15 ;  Mt.  Horeb,  on  section  12. 

BRISTOL. 

The  township  of  Bristol  is  located  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the 
county,  and  was  formerly  a  part  of  Sun  Prairie,  known  by  government 
survey  as  town  9,  north  of  range  11,  east.  It  is  well  watered  by  Waterloo 
creek  and  its  branches  in  the  eastern  part.  The  surface  is  undulating, 
soil  rich  and  fertile  and  considerable  marsh  or  hay  land. 

It  was  organized  as  a  separate  town  in  1848,  the  first  town  meeting 
being  held  at  the  house  of  George  C.  Smith.  W.  W.  Patrick  was 
elected  first  Supervisor. 

Brazee’s  Lake  lies  in  southwest  corner  of  section  34,  and  is  about 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  long,  north  and  south. 

Population  in  1870,  1,275. 

BURKE. 

The  township  of  Burke  lies  in  the  northeastern  quarter  of  the  county, 
adjoining  the  city  of  Madison  in  a  northeast  direction,  and  known  as 
town  8,  north,  range  10  east.  It  is  watered  in  the  northern  part  by  Token 
Creek.  This  is  an  excellent  township  of  land,  the  surface  about  equally 
divided  between  prairie  and  timber.  The  soil  is  rich  and  productive. 
The  town  has  the  advantage  of  two  lines  of  railroads  passing  through  it, 
the  Madison  &  Portage  Railroad,  which  enters  on  the  southwest  corner 
from  the  south  and  runs  northerly  from  Madison  through  the  western 
part,  passing  into  Columbia  county;  and  the  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul 
Railroad  which  enters  on  the  south  line  in  section  33,  and  runs  north¬ 
easterly  into  the  town  of  Sun  Prairie. 

The  town  was  first  settled  about  1841-2.  Among  the  early  residents 
were  Horace  Lawrence,  Adam^Smith,  and  George  H.  Spalding. 
E.  Grover  located  in  1844.  It  was  formerly  a  part  of  Windsor. 

It  was  organized  as  a  separate  town  in  1852.  Hon.  Adam  Smith  was 
elected  first  supervisor. 

The  village  of  Token  Creek,  in  section  3,  lies  on  the  stream  of  that 
name  on  the  north  line  of  the  town,  on  the  site  of  an  old  Indian  encamp, 
ment. 

Population  in  1870,  1,127. 


DANE  COUNTY  TOWNS. 


397 


CHRISTIANA. 

The  township  of  Christiana  lies  in  the  southeast  part  of  the  county, 
adjoining  the  county  of  Jefferson,  known  also  as  town  6  north,  of  range 
12  east.  It  is  well  watered  in  the  north  by  Mud  creek,  and  the  central 
and  eastern  part,  by  Koshkonong  creek  and  tributaries.  Koshkonong 
prairie  lies  between  Mud  creek  and  the  first  named  stream. 

The  town  was  first  organized  May  6,  1847.  Among  the  early  settlers 
were  A.  O.  Amundson,  M.  Mayhew,  J.  Peterson  and  S.  H.  Coon. 
The  first  school  house  wTas  built  on  section  9.  The  first  church  was  of 
the  Lutheran  denomination  and  was  located  on  section  27.  The  first 
preacher  was  a  Mr.  Dietrichson.  Some  portions  of  the  town  are  some¬ 
what  broken,  the  whole  about  equally  divided  between  prairie  and  timber  • 
There  are  two  villages  in  the  town:  Cambridge,  on  section  12,  and  Clin' 
ton,  on  section  24,  both  on  the  Koshkonong  creek,  the  latter  has  a  grist 
mill.  Utica  post  office  is  on  section  19. 

The  town  is  settled  largely  by  Norwegians.  Population,  1870, 1,342. 

COTTAGE  GROVE. 

The  township  of  Cottage  Grove  lies  east  of  the  town  of  Blooming 
Grove,  about  nine  miles  east  of  Madison,  and  known  as  town  7  north,  of 
range  11  east. 

It  is  watered  in  the  northeastern  part  by  Koshkonong  creek,  in  the 
southern  and  western  part  by  Little  and  Big  Door  creeks. 

The  village  of  Cottage  Grove  is  a  small  settlement  located  in  section 
7.  Door  Creek  post  office  is  on  section  33. 

The  town  was  first  settled  in  1837  by  Amos  Harris,  who  located  on 
section  9.  Amos  Beecher,  William  Wells  and  H.  Cattine,  on  section 
7.  The  town  received  its  name  from  a  burr-oak  grove  in  the  midst  of 
which  a  public  house  was  built,  and  where  the  post  office  was  kept.  The 
town  was  organized  April  6,  1847.  Henry  L.  Bush  was  elected  Chair¬ 
man,  and  F.  A.  Mitchell  Town  Clerk.  There  seems  to  have  been  no 
Treasurer  elected ;  at  least,  the  records  do  not  show  it.  A  Presbyterian 
Church  was  early  organized  under  the  care  of  Rev.  George  Kanouse. 
Subsequently,  a  Methodist  Church  was  organized,  and  both  congregations 
now  have  commodious  meeting-houses.  The  first  school  house  was  built 
on  section  7.  There  are  now  nine  school  districts,  in  which  schools  are 
kept  from  six  to  nine  months  each  year.  The  surface  of  the  country  is 
rolling,  some  parts  being  rugged  and  hilly.  The  town  contains  about 
7,000  acres  of  marsh  land,  which  yields  excellent  hay  and  pasturage. 
There  are  Indian  relics  and  mounds  on  the  lands  of  Albert  Gaston  on 
section  4. 

Population,  1870,  955. 


398 


APPENDIX. 


CROSS  PLAINS. 

The  township  of  Cross  Plains  is  located  in  the  western  part  of  Dane 
county,  and  is  known  in  the  government  survey  as  township  7  north, 
range  7  east. 

It  is  watered  in  the  northeast  quarter  by  Black  Earth  creek,  and  Sugar 
river  on  the  southern  sections.  About  two-thirds  of  the  town  is  prairie 
land.  The  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  Railroad  enters  the  town  on  the 
east  side,  on  section  12,  and  passes  out  northwesterly  in  section  5. 

The  town  was  first  permanently  settled  in  1840,  by  Edward  Hughes 
and  John  Campbell.  They  were  soon  followed  by  John  W.  Thomas, 
Berry  Haney,  Thos.  Arland  and  S.  Bell.  A  Mr.  Steel  was  living  in 
the  town  in  1837,  engaged  in  hunting  and  trapping,  but  did  not  remain. 

The  town  was  organized  in  1847,  with  Ripha  Warden,  Supervisor: 
Wm.  Howery,  Assessor;  Berry  Haney,  Clerk.  School  districts  were 
organized  the  same  year,  and  schools  soon  after. 

In  the  south  part  of  the  town  is  an  elevation  known  as  Pine  ’Bluffs. 
This  is  a  body  of  rock,  on  the  top  of  which  grows  a  clump  of  pine  trees. 
There  are  also  some  high  bluffs  in  the  northern  part  of  the  town. 

The  villages  of  Foxville  and  Christina,  are  on  sections  three  and  four 
on  the  railroad.  Cross  Plains  post  office  is  on  section  2.  Pine  Bluff 
post  office  at  the  junction  of  sections  21,  22,  27  and  28.  Population, 
1870, 1,506. 

DANE. 

The  township  of  Dane  is  situated  on  the  northern  line  of  the  town, 
east  of  Roxbury,  known  as  township  9  north,  of  range  8  east.  The  north¬ 
western  part  is  watered  by  Spring  Creek.  Some  portions  are  rough  and 
bluffy. 

The  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railroad  passes  through  the  town 
north  andsouth  in  an  irregular  line.  The  village  of  Dane  is  a  way  station 
on  section  13.  Brereton  is  a  post  office  on  section  30. 

The  town  was  first  settled  by  Freedom  Simons,  who  arrived  in  1842. 
The  next  year,  J.  Lewis,  L.  Blatchley,  Gr.  W.  Bell,  William  Dunlap, 
and  others,  from  Ohio,  located  in  the  west  part  of  the  town,  and  this  sec¬ 
tion  was  called  the  Ohio  settlement.  About  the  same  time,  Clark  Bab¬ 
cock,  J.  Babcock, - Pettibone,  D.  Hawley  and  John  Otto  came  in. 

John  Miller,  from  Vermont,  arrived  in  1844. 

Dane  and  Roxbury  formerly  composed  one  township.  The  records  of 
Dane  date  back  to  1848.  It  took  its  name  from  the  county.  The  soil  is 
good,  about  two-thirds  prairie,  the  balance  oak  openings.  The  people 
were  engaged  exclusively  in  farming,  up  to  the  advent  of  the  Northwest¬ 
ern  Railroad,  in  1871 ;  since  which  time  the  village  of  Dane  has  sprung 
up,  and  is  a  point  of  considerable  business. 


DANE  COUNTY  TOWNS. 


399 


The  old  Indian  trail  from  Four  Lakes  to  Sauk  Prairie  ran,  in  a  nearly 
direct  line,  through  the  town  from  the  southeast  to  the  northwest  corner. 

Population,  in  1870, 1,048. 

x>  ee  rfi  e  ld  . 

The  Township  of  Deerfield  lies  on  the  eastern  border  of  Dane 
county,  in  township  7  north,  of  range  12  east. 

The  town  is  very  well  watered  by  Koshkonong  creek,  which  enters  the 
town  on  the  west  line,  runs  easterly  and  empties  into  what  is  known  as 
Krogh's  Mill  Po?id}  a  large  body  of  water  which  covers  a  portion  of  six 
sections  of  land.  Mud  creek  enters  the  town  on  the  south  line,  and  run¬ 
ning  north  empties  into  this  pond — large  enough  in  area  to  be  called  a 
lake.  Goose  Lake  lies  in  the  northeast  comer  on  sections  1,  2, 11  and  12. 
Norah  P.  O.  is  on  section  29. 

The  first  settlers  in  the  town  arrived  1841-42 ;  among  them  were  David 
R.  Hyer,  B.  Ingraham,  Colben  Oleson,  and  Stork  Oleson.  Mr.  IIyer 
located  on  section  9 ;  he  was  the  first  postmaster  of  Deerfield  postoffice, 
established  in  1843,  and  held  the  office  for  eleven  years.  During  this 
time  he  kept  hotel,  and  bought  and  kept  on  hand  supplies  for  the  stages 
running  from  Madison  to  Milwaukee  and  Janesville  to  Columbus. 

The  first  annual  town  meeting  was  held  at  Mr  Hyer’s  house  April  3, 
1849.  At  this  meeting,  Allen  E.  Adsit  was  elected  Chairman  of  Board 
of  Supervisors ;  Emery  Sampson  and  George  R.  Fryer,  Supervisors ; 
H.  L.  Foster,  Town  Clerk ;  Benjamin  Potter,  Treasurer,  and  Martin 
W.  Adsit,  Assessor. 

Population,  1870, 1,040. 

DUNKIRK. 

The  Township  of  Dunkirk  lies  in  the  southeast  part  of  the  county  on 
the  south  line,  also  known  as  township  5  north,  of  range  11  east. 

It  was  one  of  the  original  towns  at  the  organization  of  the  county  in  1846. 

The  Yahara  or  Cat  Fish  runs  through  the  town,  entering  on  the  north 
line  on  section  4,  and  passes  out  on  the  south  line  on  section  35.  On  this 
stream  are  good  water  powers.  The  village  of  Stoughton  is  located  on 
sections  5  an  8  on  this  stream,  and  is  also  a  station  on  the  Milwaukee  and 
St.  Paul  Railroad,  and  is  a- place  of  much  business.  It  contains  a  hotel, 
three  stores,  flouring  mill,  plough  factory,  Baptist  and  Episcopal  churches, 
a  large  wagon  factory,  a  number  of  mechanical  shops  and  many  hand¬ 
some  residences.  Dunkirk  village  is  a  small  settlement  on  section  21. 
The  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  Railroad  passes  through  the  central  part  of 
the  town,  entering  on  the  east  line  on  section  25,  and  running  northwest¬ 
erly,  passes  out  on  the  north  line,  on  section  5. 

The  first  town  meeting  was  held  in  1846,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Lyons. 
Abner  Barlow  was  elected  first  supervisor. 


400 


APPENDIX. 


The  surface  of  the  county  is  gently  undulating ;  the  soil  is  good,  and 
produces  the  usual  varieties  of  grain,  and  some  tobacco. 

Population  in  1870,  1,194, 

DUNN. 

The  Township  of  Dunn  is  situated  in  the  southeast  quarter  of  the 
county,  and  is  township  6  north,  range  10  east.  Lake  Waubesa,  or  Sec¬ 
ond  Lake,  covers  portions  of  sections  4,  5,  8  and  9,  on  the  northwest  part ; 
Lake  Kegonsa,  or  First  Lake,  on  the  eastern  side,  also  takes  a  portion 
of  sections  13,  23,  all  of  24,  25  and  26 ;  Hook  Lake,  in  the  southwest 
part,  on  sections  28,  29  and  32;  Mud  Lake  on  section  10. 

The  soil  is  clay  in  the  openings,  and  black  loam  on  the  prairies. 

A  large  number  of  the  settlers  are  Norwegians.  The  town  of  Dunn 
was  so  named  by  mistake.  The  inhabitants  petitioned  to  have  it  called 
Door,  but  the  Town  Clerk  mistook  the  word  and  called  it  Dunn.  The 
early  settlers  were  A.  Weatherby,  A.  Whitcomb,  E.  Root,  William: 
Root,  H.  Prichard,  William  Calladay  and  O.  B.  Moore.  The  town 
was  organized  in  1848.  There  are  eight  schools  and  one  church.  Indian 
relics  abound  on  almost  every  hill.  Mounds,  in  the  shape  ot  animals,, 
birds  and  fishes  are  numerous. 

The  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  Railroad  passes  through  the  northeast 
corner.  On  section  3  is  the  village  of  MacFarland,  a  station  on  the  rail¬ 
road. 

Population  in  1870, 1,172. 

FITCHBURG. 

The  Township  of  Fitchburg,  formerly  known  as  Greenfield,  is  situated 
in  the  south  central  part  of  the  county,  known  as  town  6  north,  of  range 
9  east. 

The  north  tier  of  sections  is  watered  by  a  small  stream  which  has  its 
rise  in  nine  springs  in  section  3,  and  Penora  creek,  on  the  eastern  side, 
on  which  is  located  the  village  of  Lake  View. 

Stoner’s  Prairie  is  the  name  of  a  post  office  on  a  prairie  of  that  name 
on  section  30.  At  that  place,  John  Stoner,  of  Madison,  made  improve¬ 
ments  as  early  as  1838.  Oak  Hall  Post  Office  is  a  small  settlement  on 
section  33.  The  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railroad  passes  through  the 
town,  entering  on  the  south  line  on  section  35,  passing  northerly  out  at 
section  2,  into  the  town  of  Madison.  Syene  is  a  station  and  post  office 
on  the  railroad,  on  section  11. 

The  first  settlers  were,  Wm.  Quivey,  Jos.  Vroman,  P.  Pritchard,  R. 
W.  Salisbury,  W.  True,  Geo.  W.  Fox,  Wm.  H.  Fox,  Geo.  Keenan  and 
John  Keenan.  Wm.  Quivey’s  log  cabin  was  hotel,  Post  Office  and 
town  house  for  a  long  time.  The  Fox  settlement  was  a  well  known 
locality  before  towns  were  established  in  the  county. 


DANE  COUNTY  TOWNS. 


401 


At  the  town  meeting  held  April  4,  1854,  S.  W.  Field  was  elected" 
Chairman;  Isaac  Eaton  and  M.  Grady,  Supervisors;  R.  C.  Bennet, 
Town  Clerk ;  P.  S.  Nott,  Treasurer ;  C.  Postle,  Assessor. 

Population  in  1870,  1,152. 

MADISON. 

The  township  of  Madison  includes  all  that  portion  of  township  7 
north,  of  range  9  east,  except  the  city  of  Madison,  and  is  situated  near  the 
center  of  the  county.  Almost  the  whole  of  the  northern  part  is  covered 
by  the  waters  of  Lake  Mendota,  and  a  portion  of  the  eastern  part  by  Lake 
Monona.  Lake  Wingra  occupies  the  larger  part  of  section  27  and  parts 
of  sections  26  and  28.  The  town  is  traversed  by  the  Milwaukee  and  St. 
Paul  Railroad,  which  enters  it  from  the  south  at  section  36,  passes  north¬ 
westerly  and  westerly  through  the  city  and  town  to  section  18,  where  it 
passes  into  Iowa  county.  The  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railroad  enters 
on  the  south  line  on  section  35,  runs  northerly  across  Lake  Monona,  and 
northeasterly  through  the  city  into  Columbia  county. 

The  history  of  the  town  is  identical  with  that  of  the  present  city,  and' 
has  been  given  heretofore  and  is  unnecessary  to  be  repeated. 

On  section  6,  on  the  north  side  of  Lake  Mendota,  Black  Hawk  and  his 
party  were  encamped  during  the  Black  Hawk  war. 

Quarry  town  is  a  small  settlement  on  sections  20  and  21. 

Population  in  1870,  857. 

MAZOMANIE. 

The  township  of  Mazomanie  is  situated  in  the  northwest  corner  of 
Dane  county,  and  is  composed  of  sections  one  to  eighteen,  inclusive  of 
township  8  north,  of  range  6  east,  and  fractional  part  of  township  No.  9, 
lying  south  and  east  of  the  Wisconsin  river.  The  northern  half  of  this 
township  is  marsh  or  meadow  land,  very  rich  and  productive.  The 
southern  half  is  watered  by  Black  Earth  creek  and  its  tributaries. 

The  village  of  Mazomanie  is  a  thriving  place  of  business ;  located  on 
sections  9  and  16,  and  is  a  station  of  the  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad, 
which  road  passes  through  sections  16,  17  and  18,  in  the  southwest  part 
of  the  town.  It  contains  two  grist  mills,  an  Episcopal,  Baptist,  Roman 
Catholic,  Primitive  Methodist  and  Congregational  Churches;  a  good 
school  house,  4  public  houses,  2  nurseries,  a  brewery,  and  a  number  of 
stores  and  shops. 

The  town  was  organized  in  1855.  The  first  settlers  came  from  Liver¬ 
pool,  England,  in  the  fall  of  1843.  A  Mr.  Charles  Wilson,  Agent  for 
the  British  Temperance  Emigration  Society,  purchased  a  quantity  of  land, 
a  portion  of  which  was  occupied  by  the  members  of  the  society.  The' 
names  of  the  settlers  were  J.  Rhodes,  J.  Ray,  J.  Homes,  G.  Robbins,, 


402 


APPENDIX. 


J.  Kerr,  and  others ;  also,  Mr.  A.  Senier,  not  a  member  of  the  society, 
located  on  section  18. 

The  first  school  house  was  built  in  1847,  on  section  15,  and  known  as 

Howarth’s,”  or  the  “  old  log  school  house.”  The  first  church  was 
.erected  on  section  16.  It  was  called  the  First  Congregational  Church, 
and  its  pastor  was  the  Rev.  D.  Jones,  of  Dover,  Iowa  County,  Wisconsin. 
The  first  school  teacher  was  Mary  Hayes,  who  resided  on  section  15. 
The  first  marriage  that  occurred  in  the  town  was  that  of  Mr.  Leach  and 
Miss  Reeve. 

Mr.  Wm.  Thompson,  after  coming  to  Wisconsin,  returned  to  England 
for  his  family.  On  their  way  back  to  Wisconsin,  his  wife  gave  birth  to  a 
■son,  and  they  named  it  in  honor  of  the  vessel  in  which  they  were  travel¬ 
ing,  Patrick  Henry  Thompson. 

Population  in  1870;  town,  569;  village,  1,144. 

MEDINA. 

The  Township  of  Medina  is  situated  in  the  northeastern  part  of  Dane 
♦county;  the  eastern  side  divides  it  from  the  county  of  Jefferson.  It  is 
known  as  township  8  north,  range  12  east. 

The  northern  portion  is  watered  by  Waterloo  creek.  Spring  creek  is  a 
tributary  in  the  central  part. 

The  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  Railroad  passes  across  the  town,  entering 
on  the  east  side  on  section  12,  passing  out  on  section  6.  Deanville  is  a 
village  and  station  on  section  8.  The  village  of  Marshall  is  located  on 
Waterloo  creek,  on  sections  10  and  15. 

The  town  was  first  settled  about  1846.  It  derived  its  name  from  Me¬ 
dina,  Ohio,  the  former  residence  of  most  of  the  settlers,  among  whom 
were  Chas.  Lum,  S.  Muzzy,  Martin  King  and  Asa  Crass.  The  first 
town  meeting  was  held  April  4, 1848,  when  Chas.  Lum  was  elected  Chair¬ 
man,  and  Urbane  Parsons  Town  Clerk.  In  1847  there  was  no  school 
house,  meeting  house,  or  any  other  public  building,  except  an  inferior 
tavern.  In  the  fall  of  1848  a  brick  school  house  was  built,  which 
answered  the  purpose  of  school  house,  town  house  and  meeting  house, 
for  nineteen  years.  In  1866  an  academy  was  built,  costing  six  thousand 
dollars.  In  1869  the  Baptist  and  Methodist  societies  each  built  a  meet¬ 
ing  house.  In  1871  a  town  hall  was  erected,  so  the  town  is  now  pretty 
well  provided  with  public  buildings. 

On  the  site  of  the  present  village  of  Marshall,  Zenas  H.  Bird,  a 
brother  of  Col.  Bird,  put  up  the  frame  for  a  large  building,  with  the 
view  of  establishing  a  tavern  at  that  locality;  but  other  routes  of  travel 
began  to  be  opened,  and  Mr.  Bird,  regarding  the  prospect  as  unpromis¬ 
ing,  abandoned  the  premises.  Left  to  the  action  of  storms  and  weather, 
the  building,  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  years,  fell  to  the  ground,  and 


DANE  COUNTY  TOWNS. 


403 


hence  the  place  was  named  “  Bird’s  Ruins.”  Bird  sold  to  Doulass, 
Douglass  to  Hanchett,  when  the  place  was  called  Hanchettville.  Han¬ 
chett  laid  out  a  large  territory,  and  named  it  Howard  City.  The  prop¬ 
erty  was  sold  on  a  mortgage,  and  bought  by  Samuel  Marshall,  from 
whom  it  derives  it  present  name. 

The  village  contains  an  excellent  grist  mill,  hotel,  Baptist  church,  a 
few  stores  and  mechanical  shops.  Population,  1870,  1,525. 

MIDDLETON. 

The  Township  of  Middleton  lies  near  the  central  part  of  the  county, 
adjoining  Madison  on  the  west,  and  known  as  township  7  north,  of  range 
8  east.  This  is  one  of  the  early  settled  towns  in  Dane  county.  It  is 
watered  on  the  northeast  by  Pheasant  Branch,  and  on  section  1  is  the 
small  village  of  that  name.  On  section  9  is  a  large  expansion  of  water 
known  as  Mud  lake,  from  which  a  small  stream  runs  westward  into 
Black  Earth  creek. 

The  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  Railroad  crosses  the  town,  entering  from 
the  east  on  section  13,  passing  out  at  section  7.  Middleton  Station,  a 
place  of  considerable  business,  is  located  on  section  11.  It  contains  a 
steam  planing  mill,  an  elevator,  four  public  houses,  distillery,  a  few  stores 
and  shops.  East  Middleton  postoffice  is  on  section  27,  Middleton  post- 
office  on  section  30. 

The  town  was  originally  a  part  of  the  town  of  Madison.  It  was  organ¬ 
ized  as  a  separate  town  in  1848.  The  first  Supervisor  was  Thos.  P. 
Whittlesey.  f 

The* early  settlers  were  Wallace  Rowan,  Michel  St.  Cyr  and  Col. 
Wm.  B.  Slaughter,  a  more  particular  account  of  whom  will  be  found 
in  the  former  part  of  this  volume.  Rowan  early  located  as  an  Indian 
trader,  at  the  head  of  Fourth  lake,  and  was  there  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
Black  Hawk  War,  in  1832. 

He  was  succeeded  as  a  trader  by  Michel  St.  Cyr.  Whisky  and  tobacco 
•constituted  his  stock  in  trade.  But  this  trade  v.us  not  sufficient  for  a 
livelihood,  and  he  cultivated  about  eight  acres  of  ground,  raising  corn, 
oats,  potatoes,  and  a  few  vegetables.  His  cabin  was  a  small '  affair,  but 
he  entertained  the  few  traders  that  passed  through  the  country.  This 
was  on  the  site  of  the  City  of  the  Four  Lakes.  Col.  Wm.  B.  Slaughter 
entered  the  land  in  1835,  and  conveyed  an  undivided  one-half  to  Judge 
Doty,  December  20th,  in  that  year,  with  a  view  of  having  a  town  laid 
out  there,  and  eventually  securing  the  Territorial  Capital  at  that  point. 
It  was  surveyed  and  plotted  in  1836.  But  Col.  Slaughter  being  absent 
at  the  time  of  the  session  of  the  legislature  at  Belmont,  Madison  was  the 
successful  competitor  for  the  interesting  prize  at  stake,  and  the  City  of 


m 


APPENDIX. 


the  Four  Lakes  met  an  untimely  end.  The  village  of  Pheasant  Branch 
is  located  near  the  spot. 

The  soil  is  excellent,  and  farm  products  generally  are  raised  in  large 
quantities.  There  is  a  large  pond  or  lake  situated  on  section  9.  Popu¬ 
lation,  1870,  town  1,589,  station  286. 

MONTROSE. 

The  township  of  Montrose  lies  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the 
county,  on  the  southern  border,  known  as  township  5  north,  range  8  east. 
The  town  is  well  watered  by  Sugar  river  and  its  tributaries.  The  soil  is 
rich  and  productive.  The  village  of  Paoli  lies  on  sections  3  and  10,  on 
Sugar  river.  Belleville  is  a  small  settlement  on  section  34. 

The  town  of  Montrose  wa3  first  settled  in  1841,  by  Joseph  Kendricks 
and  George  McFadden  and  families,  Elam  Elder,  then  single,  and 
Benjamin  Crocker  and  family. 

The  town  was  organized  in  1847.  Daniel  M.  Holt  was  elected  first 
supervisor.  The  election  was  held  at  Mr.  McFadden’s  house.  The  first 
white  child  born  in  the  town  was  in  the  family  of  Mr.  Hendricks.  The 
town  received  its  name  at  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  McFadden,  after  a  town 
in  Pennsylvania. 

Population  in  1870, 1,157. 

OREGON. 

The  township  of  Oregon  lies  on  the  southern  boundary  of  the  county, 
in  the  central  part,  known  on  the  surveys  as  township  5  north,  range  9 
east.  It  is  one  of  the  early  settled  towns.  It  is  watered  in  the  southwest 
part  by  tributaries  of  Sugar  river. 

The  Chicago  and  Northwestern  railroad  passed  through  the  town, 
entering  on  the  south  line,  on  section  36,  passes  out  on  the  north  line  on 
section  2. 

The  village  of  Oregon  is  a  station  of  the  road  on  section  12,  and  is  a 
place  of  considerable  business.  It  has  a  Presbyterian  and  a  Methodist 
church,  three  stores,  lumber  yard,  broom  factory,  hotel,  and  a  number  of 
mechanical  shops. 

The  town  was  organized  in  1847.  It  was  first  settled  in  1842-3. 
Among  the  earliest  settlers  were  C.  P.  Moseley,  from  Connecticut ;  A. 
Kierstead,  from  New  Jersey;  R.  Rooney,  from  Virginia;  Robert 
Thompson,  from  Scotland;  Joseph  G.  Fox,  from  Ireland;  R.  Boice  and 
Wm.  Root. 

The  first  town  meeting  was  held  in  the  house  of  L.  S.  Pratt.  A  Con¬ 
gregational  church  was  organized  in  April,  1845,  by  Rev.  S.  Miner  and 
Rev.  S.  Peet,  with  twelve  members.  In  November,  1846,  it  became 
Presbyterian  under  the  ministry  of  Rev.  M.  A.  Fox,  its  present  pastor. 

The  land  is  undulating,  consisting  of  prairie  and  oak  openings.  The 


DANE  COUNTY  TOWNS. 


405 


soil,  sandy  loam  and  clay.  Brick  clay,  from  which  excellent  cream 
brick  is  made,  is  found  near  Oregon  village. 

Population  in  1870,  1,498. 

PERRY. 

The  township  of  Perry  is  situated  in  the  southwest  corner  of  Dane 
county,  known  as  township  5  north,  of  range  6  east. 

The  town  is  well  watered  by  small  streams,  the  head  waters  of  the  East 
Peckatonica  river.  Perry  post  office  is  on  sections  8  and  17.  Forward 
post  office  on  section  28. 

The  town  was  named  in  honor  of  Commodore  Perry,  of  Lake  Erie 
fame.  It  was  first  settled  in  the  spring  of  1846,  by  John  Brown,  a  native 
of  Indiana,  who  settled  on  section  27.  John  Hobart  and  Anton  Kel- 
lar,  from  Germany,  came  later  in  the  year,  and  located  on  sections  3 
and  10.  The  next  year,  Shute  Rudy  and  John  Sears,  from  Kentucky; 
John  Eastman,  from  Ohio,  and  S.  H.  Campbell  settled  mostly  along 
the  southern  border.  In  February,  1848,  B.  F.  Denson,  a  native  of  Nortli 
Carolina,  moved  in  and  settled  on  section  34.  During  this  summer,  sev¬ 
eral  Norwegians  moved  in,  prominent  among  whom  were  Hans  Johnson, 
on  section  20 ;  Lars  Halverson,  on  section  17 ;  T.  Thompson,  on  section 
17,  and  Ole  O.  Barken,  on  section  4.  The  last  named  bought  out  a  Nor¬ 
wegian  who  had  come  the  year  before.  The  above-mentioned  individ¬ 
uals  may  rightfully  be  considered  the  pioneers  of  the  town,  but  of  these 
only  Barren  and  Johnson  still  remain. 

N.  W.  Denson  was  the  first  white  child  —  born  March  19, 1848.  A 
daughter  of  John  Eastman  was  born  April  14th  of  the  same  year. 

The  first  church  was  built  on  section  8,  in  1851,  belonging  to  the  Nor¬ 
wegians,  of  the  Lutheran  denomination.  It  was  twenty  feet  square,  built 
of  logs,  and  is  still  doing  service  as  a  church,  having  been  repaired  and 
modified.  It  served  as  a  school  house  till  the  fall  of  1852,  when  the  first 
school  house  was  built.  This  was  located  a  quarter  of  a  mile  east  of 
where  Daley’s  store  now  stands.  O.  B.  Daley  opened  the  first  retail 
store  in  1853. 

As  a  separate  organization,  Perry  dates  back  to  April  4,  1851  — it  being 
a  part  of  Primrose  up  to  that  time.  After  the  year  1848,  the  settlers  were 
mostly  German  and  Norwegians,  apparently  crowding  out  the  Ameri¬ 
cans  ;  among  the  last  to  leave  were  Mr.  Denson  and  Mr.  Campbell. 

Population  in  1870,  1,051. 

PRIMROSE. 

The  township  of  Primrose  lies  on  the  southern  border  of  the  county, 
in  the  southwest  quarter,  adjoining  Perry  on  the  east,  of  "which  it  was 
formerly  a  part,  known  also  as  township  No.  5,  north  of  range  7  east. 

The  Sugar  river  and  its  numerous  tributaries,  water  the  northern  half 


406 


APPENDIX. 


of  the  county.  Primrose  post  office  is  on  section  21.  The  village  of 
Mount  Vernon  lies  part  in  section  3,  and  part  in  the  town  of  Spring- 
dale,  a  small  settlement. 

The  town  was  first  settled  in  1345.  R.  Speaks  located  on  section  19; 
A.  Speaks,  on  section  8;  Christian  Hendrixon  came  the  next  year  and 
settled  on  section  25.  The  town  was  organized  in  1845.  The  first  offi¬ 
cers  were :  David  Thomas,  Chairman ;  Samuel  Nassinger  and  Free¬ 
man  Fisher,  Supervisors ;  and  Robert  Harrington,  Clerk.  The  first 
school  house,  called  “  Primrose  school  house,”  was  erected  in  1847,  on 
section  17.  G-.  Jackson  was  the  first  teacher.  Rev.  A.  Price,  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  was  the  first  pastor.  A  mill  was  built  on  section  7  in 
1858,  being  the  first  in  the  town.  Primrose  had  the  honor  of  sending  a 
member  to  the  Legislature  in  1868  —  Hon.  Gunnif  Tollefson. 

On  section  24  is  a  hill  200  feet  high,  100  rods  long  and  15  rods  wide  at 
the  top,  called  Mt.  Julia.  Among  the  natural  curiosities  is  the  “  Devil’s- 
Chimney,”  on  section  11.  This  is  a  solid  body  of  rock  50  feet  high,  25- 
feet  diameter  at  the  base,  and  50  feet  at  the  top.  In  1850,  a  man  by  the 
name  of  Joel  Britz  climbed  to  the  top,  and  placed  a  flag  there.  He  is 
the  first  and  only  man  that  ever  accomplished  the  feat  of  ascending  the 
so-called  chimney.  The  flag  staff  still  stands  there.  Names  of  visitors 
from  all  parts  of  the  United  States  are  engraved  on  the  rock. 

Population,  1870,  1,015. 

PLEASANT  SPRINGS. 

The  town  of  Pleasant  Springs  is  located  in  the  southeast  quarter  of 
the  county,  known  also  as  township  6  north  of  range  11  east. 

Lake  Kegonsa,  or  First  Lake,  covers  a  portion  of  sections  18,  19,  20 
and  30. 

The  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  Railroad  enters  the  town  on  the  south  line- 
on  section  32,  runs  northerly,  passes  out  on  the  west  line  of  section  7. 
The  town  is  watered  in  the  northwest  by  Big  Door  Creek  and  Catfish 
Creek  in  the  southwestern  part.  The  town  is  settled  largely  by  Nor-  , 
wegians. 

The  town  of  Pleasant  Springs  received  its  name  from  a  large  spring  on 
the  lands  of  Ole  Evenson,  on  section  27.  Among  the  early  settlers  K 
H.  Roe,  H.  Severson,  Robert  McComb,  P.  S.  Markham,  John  Son- 
derman,  K.  Kittelson,  K.  A.  Jute,  and  K.  A.  Joitel.  The  first  town 
meeting  was  held  April  4,1848.  The  first  church  was  built  where  the 
Lutheran  church  now  stands,  on  section  14.  The  first  sermon  was 
preached  by  Pastor  W.  Dietrichson,  under  a  large  oak  tree,  on  A.  K. 
Jute's  farm,  September  2,  1844.  The  first  school  was  taught  in  a  private 
house.  The  first  school  house  was  built  in  section  25. 

No  minerals  are  known  to  exist  in  the  town.  The  soil  is  good  and 


DANE  COUNTY  TOWNS. 


407 


water  excellent.  Wheat  corn,  oats,  and  other  cereals  are  produced  in 
large  quantities.  There  were  a  few  Indian  mounds  on  J.  J.  Williams’' 
land,  section  19,  hut  they  are  now  nearly  all  obliterated.  Population 
1870,  1,005. 

ROXBURY. 

The  township  of  Roxbury  lies  in  the  northwestern  corner  of  the  county 
and  includes  all  of  township  9  north,  of  range  7  east,  lying  east  and 
south  of  the  Wisconsin  river.  Fish  Lake  covers  a  portion  of  sections  3 
and  4.  Crystal  Lake,  part  of  sections  1  and  2.  Crane  Lake  is  on  sections 
14  and  15. 

Clifton  village  is  a  small  settlement  on  section  6,  at  which  place  there 
is  a  bridge  across  the  Wisconsin  river.  River  P.  O.  is  on  section  7, 
where  there  is  also  a  bridge.  Alden’s  Corners  is  post  office  at  junction 
of  sections  26,  27, 34  and  35.  The  northwestern  corner  of  the  town  is  very 
rough  and  hilly,  with  some  high  bluffs.  The  Wisconsin  river  extends 
over  two  miles  on  the  western  side.  There  are  many  Germans  settled  in 
the  town. 

The  town  was  originally  a  part  of  Dane.  It  was  organized  April  3r 
1849.  Burk  Fairchilds  was  elected  Chairman;  Lorenzo  Farr  and 
Lorenzo  D.  Miller,  Supervisors ;  Jas.  Crowder,  Town  Clerk ;  Loren¬ 
zo  Farr,  Assessor;  James  Steel,  Treasurer;  Z.  Bowers;  J.  Crowder, 
George  Richards  and  B.  Fairchilds,  Justices  of  the  Peace, 

RUTLAND. 

The  Township  of  Rutland  is  situated  on  the  south  line  of  the  county/ 
in  the  southeastern  part,  known  as  township  5  north,  of  range  No.  Iff 
east. 

The  town  is  watered  by  the  Badfish  creek  and  numerous  tributaries. 
Bass  lake  lies  in  section  24.  Island  Lake  on  section  3,  which  covers  tw° 
thirds  of  the  section.  There  is  an  island  near  the  middle  of  the  lake  cov¬ 
ered  with  rock-maple  trees.  No  other  trees  of  the  kind  are  found  in 
this  section.  The  village  of  Rutland  is  in  section  19. 

The  town  was  fi  rst  settled  in  1842,  by  Joseph  Prentiss  and  son, 
Joseph  De  Jean,  Daniel  Pond  and  S.  D.  Little.  They  located  on  the 
southwest  corner  of  the  town,  on  the  old  Madison  and  Janesville  road, 
which  was  a  stage  route  at  that  time.  No  other  settlements  were  made 
until  June,  1844,  when  Jonathan  Lawrence  and  S.  W.  Graves  came 
in  and  settled  on  section  28,  then  back  in  the  wilderness.  Late  in  tlm 
fall  of  the  same  year  Jeremiah  Douglass  commenced  a  settlement  on 
section  11.  In  1845,  quite  a  number  of  people  from  Vermont  located  in 
the  south  part  of  the  town,  which  was  called  the  Vermont  settlement ;  and 
a  majority  of  those  people  remain  in  the  town  at  the  present  day.  The 
same  year  the  Douglasses,  Dannons,  Casleys  and  others,  from  Maine, 


408 


APPENDIX. 


settled  in  the  north  part  of  the  town.  This  was  called  the  Maine  settle¬ 
ment.  About  four  hundred  people  came  into  the  town  that  year,  and 
afterwards  the  town  was  rapidly  settled.  The  lands  were  all  taken  in  a 
few  years  by  actual  settlers,  and  none  by  speculators. 

The  first  town  meeting  was  held  in  April,  1846.  Jonathan  Lawrence 
was  elected  Chairman,  and  S.  W.  Graves,  Town  Clerk.  The  town  was 
named  after  the  town  of  Rutland,  in  Vermont.  At  present  there  are  eight 
school  districts,  with  good  school  houses.  There  are  three  churches,  be¬ 
longing  to  the  Methodists,  United  Brethren  and  Free  Will  Baptists,  re¬ 
spectively.  The  village  of  Brooklyn,  in  Green  county,  touches  the  south¬ 
west  corner. 

There  is  but  very  little  prairie  in  the  town ;  it  was  originally  burr-oak 
openings.  There  are  but  few  natural  curiosities.  In  opening  limestone 
quarries,  numbers  of  fossils  have  been  found  —  some  quite  large  and  per¬ 
fect. 

Population  in  1870,  1,189. 

SPRINGDALE. 

The  Township  of  Springdale  is  located  in  the  southwestern  part  of 
.the  county,  known  as  township  6  north,  of  range  7  east. 

It  is  watered  by  the  west  branch  of  Sugar  river  and  numerous  tributa¬ 
ries. 

Mount  Vernon  is  a  small  village  on  section  32;  Springdale  P.  O.  on 
section  25;  ClontorfP.  O.  on  section  11. 

The  town  contains  some  remarkable  remains  of  that  ancient  people 
who  are  supposed  to  have  inhabited  this  country  prior  to  its  occupation 
by  the  Indian  races — the  most  noteworthy  of  which  are  to  be  found  on 
section  15.  Here  are  three  mounds,  about  fifty  feet  apart,  and  extending 
east  and  west.  They  are  uniform  in  size,  being  about  six  feet  in  height 
above  the  surface  of  the  adjacent  land,  and  circular  at  the  base,  where 
they  are  nearly  forty  feet  in  diameter. 

Commencing  at  the  distance  of  fifty  feet  from  the  most  eastern  mound, 
and  extending  in  an  unvarying  direction  to  the  east,  there  is  a  long,  low 
.ridge,  or  bank  of  earth,  one  hundred  feet  in  length.  The  height  of  this 
ridge,  above  the  surface  of  the  ground  on  which  it  is  situated,  is  four 
feet,  and  measures  six  feet  through  the  base,  north  and  south,  a  line  drawn 
due  east  and  west  would  divide  the  three  mounds  and  ridge  exactly  in  the 
centre.  Being  upon  elevated  land,  the  view  from  the  site  of  these  mounds 
would,  were  it  not  for  the  luxuriant  young  trees  by  which  they  are  sur¬ 
rounded,  be  both  beautiful  and  commanding. 

In  the  summer  of  1870  one  of  these  mounds  was  partially  explored  by 
Mr.  Chas.  H.  Lewis,  a  resident  of  the  town,  when  a  well-preserved  hu¬ 
man  skeleton  was  unearthed,  together  with  a  stone  pipe  of  curious  work- 


DANE  COUNTY  TOWNS. 


409 


manship,  two  stone  knives,  some  highly  polished  and  perforated  pieces 
of  bone,  and  many  stone  implements,  the  use  of  which  is  now  unknown. 

These  mounds  and  their  contents  are  objects  of  great  interest  to  the  an¬ 
tiquarian,  as  they  point  to  the  stone  age  of  Wisconsin,  and  tend  to  the 
elucidation  of  the  great’ problem  in  regard  to  that  extinct  and  mysterious 
people,  the  mound  builders  of  America. 

Population  in  1870,  1,138. 


SPRINGFIELD. 

The  township  of  Springfield  is  situated  in  the  northwestern  quarter 
of  the  county,  adjoining  Middleton  on  the  north;  known  as  township  8- 
north,  range  8  east. 

It  is  an  excellent  township  of  land,  hut  not  as  well  watered  by  streams- 
as  many  others,  except  in  the  northeastern  part. 

Springfield  village,  a  small  settlement,  is  on  section  5;  Hyer’s  Corner 
Post  Office  is  on  section  4:  Ashton  Post  Office  on  section  26. 

The  town  was  first  settled  in  1842,  by  Hawley  Simons,  who  located  on 
section  10;  G.  B.  Slaughter,  on  section  36,  and  Geo.  Johnson,  on  sec¬ 
tion  4.  They  all  came  from  New  York  State.  The  town  was  organized 
in  April,  1848.  The  first  church  was  erected  on  section  7,  in  1858,  and 
known  as  St.  Martin’s  Church.  The  first  school  house  was  called  John¬ 
son’s  school  house,  and  was  located  on  section  12.  The  first  physician 
in  the  town  was  Dr.  Winson,  who  resided  on  section  36.  Rev.  N.  Mar¬ 
tin,  of  the  Baptist  Church,  was  the  first  pastor.  Eunice  Johnson  was 
the  first  white  child  —  born  September  4,  1845.  The  first  marriage  that 
occurred  was  that  of  Mr.  Geo.  Howard  and  Miss  Sarah  Murray,  which 
took  place  in  1844. 

The  surface  of  the  country  is  undulating,  in  some  places  hlufiy.  Soil 
generally  rich  and  fertile,  the  principal  productions  being  wheat,  corn 
and  oats.  No  natural  curiosities  exist,  though  Indian  relics  have  been 
found. 

Population  in  1870,  1,443. 

SUN  PRAIRIE. 

The  township  of  Sun  Prairie  is  situated  in  the  northeastern  quarter 
of  the  county,  known  as  township  8  north,  of  range  11  east.  The  north¬ 
ern  paat  is  prairie.  The  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  Railroad  passes  through 
the  northern  part.  The  village  of  Sun  Prairie  is  situated  on  parts  of 
sections  4  and  5,  7  and  9,  and  is  a  station  on  the  road.  It  is  a  place  of 
considerable  business,  and  large  quantities  of  grain  are  shipped  east. 
The  village  was  organized  under  the  charter  on  the  fourth  Tuesday  of 
March,  1868,  when  the  following  officers  were  elected :  Wm.  H.  Angell, 
President  of  the  board ;  Chas.  H.  Bird,  Wm.  F.  Hardwick  and  C.  R. 
27 


410 


APPENDIX. 


Babcock,  Board  of  Trustees;  William  Reeyes,  Assessor;  G.  M.  Smith, 
Clerk.  It  contains  about  1,000  inhabitants,  has  Baptist,  Methodist  Epis¬ 
copal,  R.  Catholic  and  Congregational  churches  and  a  large  school  build¬ 
ing,  about  a  dozen  stores,  two  hotels,  two  lumber  yards,  and  two  livery 
stables;  five  doctors,  one  lawyer,  and  one  dentist,  and  a  number  of  shops. 

The  history  of  the  origin  of  the  name  of  the  town  has  been  given  in 
the  former  part  of  this  volume,  to  which  reference  is  made. 

The  town  was  first  organized  as  such  in  the  spring  of  1848,  with  A.  W. 
Dickinson,  Town  Clerk. 

Population  in  1870 —  town,  984:  village,  626. 

VERMONT. 

The  township  of  Vermont  is  situated  on  the  west  line  of  the  county, 
between  the  towns  of  Black  Earth  on  the  north,  and  Blue  Mounds  on  the 
south,  known  as  township  7  north,  of  range  9  east.  It  is  well  watered 
by  numerous  streams,  the  lands  adjoining  being  rich  and  productive. 
As  a  whole  the  town  is  rough  and  hilly.  There  are  no  villages  or  post 
offices. 

The  town  was  named  by  one  of  the  settlers,  after  his  native  state.  The 
first  settler  was  a  German,  named  Joshua  Harmony,  who  located  here 
in  1846. 

J.  C.  Steele,  who  located  on  section  7,  and  S.  Batty,  on  section  6, 
were  among  the  early  settlers.  The  town  was  organized  in  1855.  The 
first  officers  were  Whalon  Hasbrook,  Isaac  C.  Steele  and  Jno.  Cald¬ 
well.  Aaron  Dana,  Clerk. 

The  first  sermon  was  preached  in  the  year  1849,  by  H.  Maynard,  of  the 
Methodist  Church.  The  first  school  district  was  organized  in  1850  — 
Archibald  Campbell  the  first  teacher.  A  Roman  Catholic  church  was 
built  in  1859;  a  Norwegian  Lutheran  church  in  1860. 

Population  in  1870,  1,244. 

VERONA. 

The  township  of  Verona  is  located  in  the  southwestern  quarter  of  the 
county,  south  of  Middleton,  and  southwest  of  Madison,  known  as  town¬ 
ship  6  north,  of  range  8  east. 

It  is  watered  by  Sugar  river  and  Badger  Mill  creek.  The  surface  of 
the  country  is  rolling,  diversified  by  hills  and  valleys,  with  considerable 
prairie  land. 

The  “  Nine  Mounds  ”  are  on  section  8;  the  country  adjoining  is  known 
as  “  Nine  Mound  Prairie.” 

Verona  village  and  post  office  is  a  small  settlement  on  section  15. 

The  town  was  first  settled  by  people  from  England.  The  first  land 
was  sold  in  1840.  Wm.  A.  Wheeler  built  the  first  mill  on  Badger  creek. 
The  first  school  house  was  built  on  Badger  Prairie.  Presbyterian  was 


DANE  COUNTY  TOWNS. 


411 


the  first  church  organization ;  A.  Burns  the  first  pastor.  Margaret 
Stewart  was  the  first  white  child  born  in  the  town;  E.  Collins  among 
the  first  male  children. 

There  is  a  cave  of  considerable  extent  in  the  northern  part  of  the  town,  on 
section  5,  an  account  of  which  may  be  found  in  chapter  nine  of  this 
volume.  Indian  mounds  and  relics  are  found  on  section  18,  and  traces 
of  an  Indian  village  on  section  33.  Also,  the  remains  of  an  ancient 
bakery  on  section  25. 

The  Dane  County  Poor  House  is  located  in  this  town,  on  section  14. 
It  was  opened  for  the  reception  of  inmates  in  1854.  The  number  of 
persons  admitted  since  that  time  is  597.  Of  that  number  60  have  died, 
475  have  been  discharged,  and  60  yet  remain.  The  farm  consists  of  152 
acres  —  90  acres  tillable  land,  62  acres  low  land,  and  60  acres  of  wood 
land.  The  building  is  constructed  of  brick,  and  is  40  x  60  feet  in  size. 
The  farm  and  building  cost  $10,113.82.  Other  buildings  have  been  erected, 
such  as  sheds,  corn-cribs,  barn,  etc.  The  inmates  are  comfortabty  pro¬ 
vided  with  clothing,  bedding,  good  substantial  food,  and  all  necessaries 
of  life  usually  furnished  in  such  institutions  for  the  support  of  the  poor. 

Population  in  1870,  1,124. 

VIENNA. 

The  township  of  Vienna  is  situated  on  the  north  side  of  the  county, 
the  second  township  north  of  Madison,  and  known  as  township  9  north, 
of  range  9  east. 

There  are  no  streams  in  this  town,  except  in  section  36. 

Norway  Grove  P.  O.  is  located  on  section  23. 

The  town  derived  its  name  from  the  town  of  Vienna  in  New  York. 
Among  the  first  settlers  were  Wm.  G.  Simonds,  Louis  Montander,  S. 
Nicholson,  Thos.  Liday,  David  Robertson,  A.  A.  Boyce  and  Willard 
Fisher. 

It  was  organized  April  16,  1849.  A.  A.  Boyce  was  elected  Chairman; 
Benj.  Nesmith  and  Willard  Fisher,  Supervisors;  Isaac  Mann,  Town 
Clerk;  Thos.  Lindsay,  Assessor;  Jabez  Weston,  Treasurer;  Jonah 
Poyner,  W.  Fisher,  A.  A.  Boyce,  Hubbell  Fuller,  Justices  of  the 
Peace. 

The  first  church  was  of  the  Lutheran  denomination,  erected  1854 — 
Rev.  Mr.  Preuss,  pastor.  The  first  school  house  was  built  on  section  7, 
in  1851. 

The  soil  is  fine,  productive  prairie.  The  timber  embraces  different 
varieties  of  oak  and  some  poplar. 

Population  1870,  1,177. 

WESTPORT. 

The  town  of  Westport  lies  north  of  Madison,  and  comprises  all  that 


412 


APPENDIX. 


portion  of  township  8  north,  of  range  9  east,  not  covered  by  Lake 
Mendota. 

The  town  is  watered  by  Six  Mile  Creek  and  Catfish  Creek,  with  their 
tributaries. 

The  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railroad  enters  on  the  south  line  at 
section  36,  and  passes  through  the  town  northwesterly,  passing  out  at 
section  6.  Waunakee  is  a  flourishing  village  and  station  on  section  8. 
Westport  post  office  is  on  section  21.  Lake  Mendota  covers  a  part  of 
sections  33,  34,  35  and  36. 

The  town  derives  its  name  from  the  village  of  Westport,  in  Ireland. 
Among  the  early  settlers  were  the  Montanders,  Boyles,  O’Malleys, 
Collins,  etc.  The  town  was  organized  in  1849.  First  school  was  built 
on  section  9,  in  1846.  First  mill  was  built  in  1847.  In  1867  a  R.  Catholic 
church  was  erected  on  section  22.  The  northern  and  western  portions 
of  the  town  are  principally  prairie  —  the  rest  marsh  and  timber.  There 
were  some  Indian  mounds  and  graves  where  the  Hospital  now  stands. 

The  Wisconsin  State  Hospital  for  the  Insane  is  located  on  section  35. 
The  entire  length  ot  the  hospital  building  is  569  feet,  the  centre  building 
being  65  x  120  feet.  The  elegant  and  commodious  buildings  are  sur¬ 
rounded  by  ornamental  grounds,  wood  and  farming  lands  to  the  extent  of 
293  acres,  and  when  some  contemplated  ..improvements  are  added,  a  com¬ 
plete  institution,  creditable  to  the  enterprise  of  the  people  of  Wisconsin 
and  their  philanthropy,  will  suitably  accomodate  the  unfortunates  need¬ 
ing  its  protection. 

A  more  detailed  description  of  the  Hospital  will  be  found  in  the  former 
part  of  this  volume. 

Population  1870, 1,589. 

WINDSOR. 

The  township  of  Windsor,  lies  on  the  northern  line  of  the  county  > 
north  of  Burke,  and  known  as  township  9  north,  of  range  10  east. 

It  is  watered  by  small  streams  that  flow  into  the  Catfish,  and  the  south¬ 
east  corner  by  Token  Creek. 

The  surface  of  the  country  is  prairie  and  oak  openings.  It  is  an  ex¬ 
cellent  township,  and  adapted  to  the  production  of  corn,  wheat  and  other 
cereals. 

As  originally  organized  it  included  the  present  towns  of  Vienna, 
Windsor,  Burke  and  Westport.  The  first  town  meeting  was  held  at  the 
house  of  Horace  Lawrence  in  1847.  The  first  supervisor  was  Charles 
M.  Nichols. 

The  Madison  and  Portage  railroad  passes  through  the  town,  entering 
on  the  south  line  on  section  32,  and  passing  out  on  the  north  line  on 
section  6.  De  Forest  station  and  postoffice  is  on  section  17 ;  Morrison 


DANE  COUNTY  TOWNS. 


413 


station  and  postoffice,  on  section  6;  and  Windsor  station  and  postoffice, 
on  section  29,  at  which  place  are  a  few  stores  and  mechanical  shops. 
Population  in  1870,  1,256. 


YORK. 

The  township  of  York  lies  in  the  northeast  corner  of  Dane  county, 
known  as  township  9  north,  of  range  12  east.  It  is  watered  in  the  south¬ 
west  part  by  Waterloo  creek. 

The  surface  of  the  country  is  prairie  and  oak  openings,  interspersed 
with  natural  meadows. 

The  town  was  organized  April  1,  1848.  B.  B.  Freeman  was  chosen 
.chairman,  D.  E.  Emery  and  Walter  Brown,  supervisors,  Martin 
Mead,  justice  of  the  peace,  and  Otis  B.  Lapham,  town  clerk. 

It  is  divided  into  eight  school  districts,  and  has  two  church  organiza¬ 
tions. 

York  Center  is  a  small  village  and  postoffice  at  junction  of  sections 
15,  16,  21  and  22. 

Population  in  1870,  1,069. 


414 


APPENDIX. 


ADDITIONS  AND  CORRECTIONS. 


On  page  282,  is  an  account  of  the  organization  of  the  Baptist  Church 
and  the  erection  of  the  church  building.  Rev.  Foster  Henry,  of  Ver¬ 
mont,  informs  the  writer  that  he  made  an  effort,  during  a  sojourn  at 
Madison  in  the  winter  of  1849,  ’50,  to  raise  a  subscription  to  build  the 
church  edifice.  That  he  succeeded  in  raising  some  $6,000,  conditioned 
on  the  sum  of  $10,000  being  subscribed.  The  latter  amount  was  not 
reached  and  the  effort  was  a  failure.  In  1854,  Rev.  M.  D.  Miller  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  raising  funds  for  the  purpose  as  the  narrative  shows. 

In  chapter  six  we  omitted  to  notice  among  the  organizations  in  the 
year  1854,  that  of  Hiram  Lodge,  No.  50,  of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons, 
which  was  effected  on  February  21.  This  Lodge  is  in  a  prosperous  con¬ 
dition,  as  is  also  the  “  Concordia  Lodge,”  No.  88,  which  was  organized 
March  20,  1857,  which  was  not  noticed. 

Capitol  Lodge  No.  1,  Independent  Order  of  Good  Templars,  was  insti¬ 
tuted  March  19,  1856,  and  has  prospered  well  ever  since,  now  possessing 
one  of  the  finest  lodge  rooms  in  the  State,  in  Ogden’s  block. 

Among  those  who  passed  through  the  Four  Lake  country  in  early 
times,  and  have  left  a  record  of  their  journey,  is  one  family  who  have 
been  inadvertantly  overlooked.  On  the  8th  of  March,  1831,  John  H. 
Kinzie,  Esq.,  then  Indian  agent  at  Fort  Winnebago,  having  occasion  to 
visit  Fort  Dearborn,  left  the  Fort  (Winnebago)  in  company  with  his  young 
wife  and  a  few  attendants.  They  encamped  the  first  night  on  a  stream 
emptying  into  Fourth  Lake,  and  the  next  day  passed  around  the  lake- 
Scattered  along  its  banks  was  an  encampment  of  Winnebagoes  who  were 
friendly;  they  passed  on  to  the  “  Blue  Mound,”  and  thence  seven  miles 
further  to  Col.  Morrison’s  place,  and  thence  to  Kelloog’s,  to  Dixon’s,  on 
Rock  river  and  thence  to  Chicago.  Mrs.  Kinzie,  in  her  very  interesting 
work,  “Wau-bun,  the  Early  Day  in  the  Northwest,”  N.  Y.,  1856,  8  vo.r 
has  an  account  of  this  journey. 


INDEX 


Abbott,  Abijah,  referred  to,  376. 

Abbott,  H.  0.,  visited  Madison  1837,  57. 
Adams,  C.  F.,  visited  Madison  1860,  268. 
Ainsworth,  Calvin,  Police  Justice,  287. 
Allen,  C.  H..  Supt.  of  Schools,  288. 

Allen,  Elizabeth,  HarriageJ1838,  92. 

Allen,  Gen.  T.  S.,  referred  to,  303, 

Albee,  G.  C.,  referred  to,  229. 

Aldrich,  L.  D.,  in  the  war,  274,  278,  305. 
American  Hotel,  referred  to,  37,  72,  79,  80, 

Ames,  Nathaniel,  rev.  soldier,  268,  282,  291. 
Apostolic  Church,  referred  to,  127. 
Armitage,  B’p  W.  E.,  392. 

Arndt,  C.  C.  P.,  killed,  185-6,  289-90. 
Artesian  Well,  310-13,  358-9. 

Atwood,  J.  P.,  referred  to,  252,  274,  304. 
Argus  and  Democrat,  established,  230-31. 
Armel,  Louis,  early  trader,  24. 

Atwell,  B.  D.,  wounded  in  war,  296. 

Atwell,  W.  P.,  same,  296. 

Atwood  &  Rublee,  printers,  etc.,  230-31. 

Sea  Madison  State  Journal. 

Atwood  <fc  Buck,  brick  dwelling,  222. 
Atwood,  David,  referred  to,  79,  222,  233,  265, 
267.  298,  320-1,  335,  349,  361,  367,  375. 
Atwood,  Isaac,  settler  in  1838,  79. 

Aubrey,  Jas.,  killed  in  Black  Hawk  war, 
19.  20. 


Badger,  Rev.  Mr.,  teacher,  146. 

Bacon,  R.  S„  Com.  College,  249. 

Bailey.  M.  T.,  referred  to,  314.  324. 

Baird,  H.  S.,  at  Madison  site  1829,  17. 
Baker,  Mrs.  E.  E..,  referred  to,  372. 

Baker,  Dr.  J.  E.,  referred  to,  342. 

Baker,  J.  L.,  in  the  war,  305. 

Baltzell,  J.  R.  referred  to,  265,  308,  321,831. 
Bank  of  the  West,  organized.  242. 

Bank  of  Madison,  organized,  268. 

Baptist  Church,  organized  and  history,  196, 
232. 

Barnard,  H.,  Chancellor,  266. 

Barnes,  Frank,  steamers,  295,  312. 

Bartlett,  S.  B  ,  referred  to,  372. 

Baxter,  D.,  contractor,  etc.,  71, 197. 
Beardsley,  O.,  referred  to,  120. 

Beecher,  early  settler  at  Cottage  Grove,  160. 
Benedict,  S.  G.,  referred  to,  252,  282. 
Beouchard,  E.,  in  Black  Hawk  war,  19. 
Billings  &  Firmin,  325. 

Bingham,  H.,  referred  to,  281. 

Bird,  A.  A.,  earlv  settler,  etc.,  35,  36,  47,  57, 
70-73.  85,  257,  328-9. 

Bird,  Chas.  H.,  early  settler,  72-74. 

Bird,  Prosper  B.,  early  settler,  74. 

Bird,  Mrs.  P.  B.,  381. 

Bird’s  Ruins,  account  of,  98. 

Bird,  T.  E.,  referred  to,  284,  335,  367. 

Bird,  Z.  H  ,  early  settler,  74,  137. 

Bishop,  Andrew,  referred  to,  370. 

Black  Hawk  war,  18-22. 


Blakesley,  M.,  referred  to,  301. 

Bliss,  F.,  referred  to,  367. 

Blue  Mounds,  description  of,  16,  17. 

Blue  Mounds,  visited  by  Capt.  Carver,  10. 
Bolden,  Jesse,  referred  to,  63,  64,  74. 
Borschenius,  H.,  in  war,  280. 

Botkin,  Alex.,  notice  of,  etc.,  150,  224. 
Botkin,  S.  W.,  in  war,  286. 

Bowen,  Dr.  J.  B.,  Mayor,  etc.,  265,  317,  335, 
336. 

Boyles,  A.,  &  Co.,  Merchants,  191. 
Bradford,  H.C.,  in  Confederate  service,  305. 
Bradford,  S.  A.,  Capt.  Madison  Guards,  233. 
Braley,  A.  B.,  Magistrate,  252,  349,  370. 
Brewer,  F.  B.,  referred  to,  300. 

Briggs,  Fred.,  referred  to,  297. 

Briggs,  Giles,  workman  on  old  Capitol,  74. 
Brigham,  Ebenezer,  memoir,  12-15. 
Brigham,  Ebenezer,  referred  to,  33,  77,  80, 
112-14,  127,  138,  239. 

Brigham,  David,  early  settler,  79,  130,  138, 
145. 

Brigham,  J.  R.,  referred  to,  149,  180,  221, 
361-2. 

Brisbane,  Rev.  W.  IT.,  Baptist  church,  232. 
Britt,  C.  C.,  Madison  in  1842,  141-3. 
Brittan,  Rev.  J.  B.,  Grace  Church,  246  251. 
Brown,  Hiram,  etc.,  referred  to,  314. 
Bro«rn,  John  A.,  at  Madison,  1842,  141-3. 
Brown,  Tim.,  referred  to,  282,  290-2, 
Bryant,  Geo.E.,  County  Judge,  in  the  war, 
etc.,  274,  278,  279,  297,  302,  324,  359. 
Brooks,  Rev.  W.  R.,  Baptist  Church, 
232-33. 

Brunson,  Rev.  Dr.  A.,  paper  on  Madison, 
1841-3,  134-7,  351-3. 

Bruen,  W.  D.,  built  Bruen’s  Block,  234. 
Bruen’s  Block  Tenants,  252. 

Buck,  Royal,  Teacher,  etc. ,  149,  222. 
Butterfield,  Jona.  early  settler,  111. 
Bunker,  G.  W.,  referred  to,  360. 

Burdick,  Elisha,  referred  to,  365. 

Burial  Places,  164-168. 

Bull,  J.  M.,  referred  to.  286. 

Bundy,  G.  &  D.,  workmen  on  Capitol,  74. 
Burgoyne,  Dr.,  referred  to,  328. 

Bushnell,  C.,  Madison  Hotel,  73. 

Bush,  D.  C.,  referred  to,  331. 

Burnham,  John,  referred  to,  53. 

Burton,  R.  W.,  Supt.  Orphans’  Home,  300. 
Butler,  J.  D.,  referred  to,  268,  298. 

Byrne,  J.  A.,  referred  to,  266. 

Cadel,  Rev.  R.  F.,  Minister,  128. 
Calimanee,  Indian  Chief,  113. 

Calkins,  E.  A.,  Editor,  230. 

Camack,  Jas.,  referred  to,  365. 

Campbell,  Daniel,  referred  to,  35. 
Campbell,  Ed.,  early  Merchant,  37,  101, 
127. 

Campbell,  Jas.,  referred  to,  337. 

Carman,  A.  F.,  referred  to,  231,233. 


416 


INDEX. 


Carpenter,  J.  H.,  residence,  etc.,  265,  365. 
Carpenter,  S.  H.,  referred  to,  82,  231,335. 
Capitol  erected  1837,  68-70:  new  Capitol. 
313.  318,327-8.3 

Capitol  Square — Judge  Knapp’s  account, 
191-2. 

Carver,  Jona.,  Visits  Blue  Mounds,  10. 
Capron,  Geo.,  referred  to,  265,  362. 

Catlin,  John,  Reminiscences,  etc,  32-40, 
50,53,65,77,78.  127,228. 

Catlin,  Steptoe,  early  settler.  59. 

Cave,  The,  of  Bane  county,  378-380. 
Cemetery  Grounds  purchased,  169,  170. 
Census  United  States,  332. 

Chadbourne,  P,  A.,  University,  310. 
Chaetar,  Capturer  ot  Black  Hawk,  21. 
Chapman,  C.  B.,  reminiscences,  170-80. 
Chapman,  C.  B.,  referred  to,  81,  233,278, 
349,360. 

Chapman,  C.  P.,  Account  of  Governor’s 
Guard,  etc.,  302-6,  367,  370. 

Chase,  E  R.,  in  the  war,  304. 

Chicago  Fire,  alluded  to,  345. 

Chimes,  Grace  Church.  371-3. 

Chittenden,  C.  C.,  in  the  war,  605. 
Christophers  &  Co.,  referred  to,  367. 
Chrisman,  A.,  at  Madison  in  1832,  24. 
Church  &  Hawley,  referred  to,  283. 

Church  of  Holy  Redeemer,  258,313,325. 

City  Hall,  erected,  258. 

City  Hotel,  built,  80. 

City  of  Four  Lakes,  surveyed,  etc.,  28,  59, 

88, 

City  of,  N. ,  S.,  E.  and  W.  Madison,  sur¬ 
veyed,  59. 

City  ol  1st  and  2d  Lake  surveyed,  59. 

Clark,  Cyrus,  referred  to,  74. 

Clark,  Darwin,  early  settler,  74,  122,  265 
360,  381. 

Clark,  Geo.  T.,in  war,  305. 

Clark,  Rev.  J.  C.C.,  Pastor  Baptist  Church 
233. 

Clark,  Jesse  A.,  Madison  Hotel,  etc.,  73,  362 
Clark,  Rev.  J.  M.,  referred  to,  130,  189. 
Clark,  Julius  T.,  Reminiscences,  129,  138, 
172,  181-186,  264. 

Clark,  Satterlee,  referred  to,  53. 

Clements,  Br.  J.  P.,  Superintendent  Luna¬ 
tic  Asylum,  309. 

Cobb,  Rev.  H.  K.,  Methodist  Minister,  357. 
Coit,  B.  R.,  in  the  war,  305. 

Cole,  Orsamus,  referred  to,  265,  274  359. 
Congregational  Church,  history,  129-133, 
250-1,  258,  313-14,  349,366,  372-5. 

Conklin,  J.,  referred  to,  365. 

Coon,  8.  Park,  in  the  war,  276. 

Cooper,  Rev.  Jas.,  Pastor  Baptist  Church, 
232. 

Corning,  J.  W.,  workman  on  old  capitol,74 
Corscot,  J.,  referred  to,  297. 

Cotton,  L.  H.,  referred  to,  7. 

Coues,  Miss  L.  L.,  teacher,  269. 

Covalle,  Philip,  early  trapper,  41,  110.  177 
204-5. 

Culver,  J.  O.,  Journal  Office,  231  344. 
Cundall,  Rev.  I.  N.,  referred  to,  300. 

Curtis,  Miss  Emeline,  teacher,  297. 

Eaggett,  M.  E.  &  Co.,  367. 

Bane  Baptist  Association,  233. 

Dane  County  Bank,  organized,  242-3. 

Bane  County  Cavalry,  organized,  264. 

Bane  County  Commissioners,  94. 

Bane  County  Organized,  121-2,  125-6. 

Bane  County,  named  by  Gov.  Dodge,  30. 
Bane  County  Peat  Beds,  referred  to,  255 
257. 

Darwin,  A.  G.,  referred  to,  283. 


Davis,  A.  C.,  referred  to,  284. 

Davidson,  W.,  builder,  313. 

Davis,  R.  T  ,  early  settler,  79. 

Dean,  E.  B.,  Merchant,  etc.,  137,  144,  151r 
191,  239  302. 

Dean,N.  W..  Merchant,  144,  148,  313,  328. 
Dean,  Thaddeus,  referred  to,  302. 

Dean  &  Pardee,  referred  to,  302. 

Deards,  W.,  builder,  313. 

De  Forest,  I.  N.,  referred  to,  250,  298. 
DeKorra,  captured  Black  Hawk,  21. 

Delaney,  John,  Wisconsin  Democrat,  140. 
Delaplaine,  Geo  P.,  early  seitler,  etc.,  78, 
79,  95,100,  151,  179,  237,  251,  265,  282. 
Delaplaine  &  Burdick,  Lake  Side  House, 
241-2,  312. 

Dennis,  Wm.  N.,  referred  to,  42-3,  57. 
Devil’s  Lake,  H.  A.  Tenney’s  Account, 

377. 

Dixon,  Dr.  L.  J.,  surgeon  in  war,  281. 
Dodge,  Gen.  Henry,  referred  to,  28,  32. 
Dodge,  Re  r.  R.  V..  Pastor  Presbyterian 
Church,  226. 

Doty,  Gov.  J.  Duane,  early  proprietor,  etc., 
17,  18,  35-38,  46-7,  55-6,  65,  71-79. 

Drake,  L.  P.,  referred  to,  72. 

Draper,  L.C.,  referred  to,  54,  82,  202,307,319.- 
Dunn,  Chas.,  referred  to,  40,  41,  73. 
Duncombe,  a  suicide,  123. 

Dunning,  Jones  &  Co.,  building,  268. 
Dunning  &  Sumner,  building,  315. 

Durrie,  D.  S.,  relerred  to.  224-6,  238,  253, 
307,  319. 

Earll,  E.,  referred  to,  362. 

Eastman,  B.  C.,  referred  to,  120. 

Eastman,  G.  W.,  workman  on  Capitol,  74^ 
Easton,  John,  same.  79,  81. 

Edgerton,  B.  K.  &  E.  W.,  early  land  pro¬ 
prietors,  59. 

Eggleston,  M.,  Capitol  workman,  74. 
Eggleston,  Rev.  N.  H.,  Pastor  Cong.  Ch.,- 
131,  250,  264,  265. 

Ellsworth,  W.  J.,  referred  to,  342. 

Episcopal  Church  organized,  etc.,  101.  See- 
Grace  Church.  See  Apostolic  Church. 

Fairchild,  Cassius,  in  war,  280,  287,  304. 
Fairchild,  Charles,  in  ihe  war,  252. 
Fairchild,  Jairus  C.,  mayor,  etc.,  224,  234, 
252,  283. 

Fairchild,  Lucius,  in  the  war,  etc.,  274,  277r 
287,  292,  303,  367. 

Fake  &  Cotton,  American  House,  37. 

Fake,  Mrs.  H.,  referied  to,  128. 

Fallows,  Rev.  S  ,  referred  to,  349,  356. 
Farwell,  Gov.  L.  J..  referred  to,  159, 192-4r 
201-2,  219-20,  228-9. 

Fay,  John,  referred  to,  367. 

Fellows,  Rev.  Geo.,  relerred  to,  298. 

Fess,  Geo.  E.,  referred  to,  346. 
Featherstonbaugh,  G.  W.,  geologist,  54r 
58-61. 

Field,  A.  P.,  early  settler,  etc.,  58,  100. 
Findlay,  A  ,  referred  to,  315. 

First  Wedding,  92 

First  Bell  in  Madison,  194-6. 

Finch  &  Blanchard,  merchants,  191. 

First  Rational  Bank  organized,  292. 
Firmin,  F.  H.,  relerred  to,  238. 

Fish  &  Stephens,  referred  to,  342,  366. 
Fisher  &  Reynolds,  referred  to,  335. 
Fleischer,  H.,  surveyor,  27. 

Flower,  J.  M.,  Police  Justice,  308- 
Four  Lake  Country,  various  references,  10r 
11,  15,  16,  23. 

Fox,  Rev.  M.  A.,  referred  to,  361. 

Fox,  S.  R.,  merchant,  249. 


INDEX. 


417 


Fox,  Rev.  Win.,  Meth.  clergyman,  352. 
Force,  Win.,  at  Blue  Mounds,  20. 

Ford,  J.  C.,  referred  to,  365. 

Frazier,  Judge,  referred  to.  39,  41-44,  211. 
Fritschel!,  Frol'.,  referred  to.  321. 
Frodsham,  B.,  relerred  to,  312. 

Fuller,  A.  C..  relerred  to,  373. 

Fuller,  M.  E.  &  Co.,  merchants,  315. 
Fullerton,  T.  M.,  preacher,  352. 

Fyfe,  Re-v.  Dr.,  releired  to,  232. 

Gage,  Henry,  referred  to,  74. 

Gardiner,  Rev.  H.  B.,  Presbyterian  Church, 
225-6,  235. 

Garnhart,  J.  H.,  Reaper  works,  343-4. 

Gary,  George,  Journal  office,  230. 

Gentry,  J.  II.,  in  Black  HawkWar,  19. 
George,  Jacob,  referred  to,  80. 

German  Catholic  Church.  See  Church  of 
Holy  Redeemer. 

German  Evangelical  Society.  302. 

German  Lutheran  Church,  264,  317,  321. 
German  Methodist  Chnrch,  296. 

Giles,  H.  H.,  referred  to,  369. 

Gill,  A.,  relerred  to,  366. 

Gilman,  George,  merchant,  283. 

Goodhue,  Dr.Treferred  to,  141-2. 

Goodhue,  — ,  at  Watertown,  1837,  63. 

Good  Templars— Capital  Lodge  No.  1  insti¬ 
tuted  March  19,  1856,  414. 

Gordon,  W.  I.,  referred  to,  362. 

Gorum,  Daniel,  rel'eried  to,  232,  235, 
Governors’  Guard,  History  of,  263,  303-6. 
Grace  Church  History,  101,  151-2,  246-8, 
318,  329-31. 

Gray,  Dr.  John,  referred  to.  362. 

Gray,  Neely,  referred  to,  274,  366. 

Greeley,  Horace,  visit,  244. 

Green.  J.  E.,  referred  to,  286,  304. 

Green.  Rev.  W.  L.,  Presbyterian  Church, 
226,  287,  298. 

Gregory,  J.  C.,  Mayor,  etc  ,  315,  360,  365. 
Grignon,  P.  B.,  relerred  to,  120. 

Grimm,  G.,  referred  to,  369. 

Gross,  — ,  tried  for  murder,  199. 

Babich,  C.,  referred  to,  233. 

Hall,  Misses,  in  Black  Hawk  war,  19. 
Halpin,  James,  referred  to,  23-4,  175-6,233. 
Halstead,  Kev.  J.,  referred  to,  351. 
Hamilton,  Wm.  S.,  early  settler  in  Wis.,14. 
Haney,  Berry,  referred  to,  36, 41,  55, 117, 215. 
Harris,  C.  L.,  in  wTar,  274,  287,  303. 
Harnden,  H.,  referred  to,  300. 

Harvey,  J.  W.,  builder,  284. 

Harvey,  Gov.  L.  P.,  referred  to,  285-6. 
Harvey,  Mis.  L.  P.,  Orphan’s  Home,  300. 
Basbrouck  &  Gurnee,  relerred  to,  264. 
Haskell,  F.  A.,  referred  to,  265,  296,  304. 
Hastings,  S.  D.,  Madison  Manufacturing 
Co.,  236,  265,  292. 

Hathaway, - ,  early  settler,  74. 

Hawley,  Cyrus,  relerred  to,  42. 

Hawley,  Wm.,  in  war,  287,  303. 

Hawes,  W.  N.,  referred  to,  82. 

Hays,  Rev.  L.  Y.,  Presbt  Ch.,  226,  361,376. 
Hendricks,  E.  W.  &  W  ,  boat  builders.  314. 
Henni,  Bishop,  relerred  to,  235,  312,  325. 
Hewitt,  E.,  capitol  workman.  74. 

High  School  Building,  363-4,  366. 

Hill,  Jas.  L.,  Mayor,  268,  348. 

Himebaugh,  Rev.  M  ,  referred  to,  357. 
Hobbins,I)r.  Wm.,  referred  to,  278. 

Hodge,  Rev.  John,  referred  to,  351. 
Holmes,  Jeff'.,  capitol  workman,  74,  85. 

Holmes, - ,  Janesville  settler,  76. 

Holt,  Benj.,  school  teacher,  etc.,  146, 148, 
355. 

28 


Holt,  David,  Postmaster,  etc.,  151, 174,  224 
230. 

Honn,  S.  F.,  merchant,  80. 

Hook  and  Ladder  Co.  organized,  261. 
Hooley,  R.  M.,  relerred  to,  341-2. 

Hope  Lodge,  1.  O.  O.  F.,  organized,  190. 
Hopkins,  B.  F.,  referred  to.  223,  290. 
Hospital  for  Insane,  240,  261,272-3,  308. 
Hough.  D.  E.,  killed  in  war,  292. 

Hoyt,  L.  W.,  referred  to,  344. 

Huchting,  F.  B  ,  wounded  in  war,  275,  287. 
Hutchinson,  B.  E.,  referred  to,  344. 
Hubbard,  H.  F.,  in  war,  297. 

Hunt,  J.  W.,  referred  1o,  232,  236. 

Hyer,  David,  early  settler,  74,  82,  127-8. 
Hyer,  Geo  ,  referred  to.  65,  79,127,  138-40, 

'  204-6. 

Hyer,  N.  F.,  referred  to,  138. 

Hydraulic  Power,  leased,  167-8. 

Illsley,  Edward,  in  war,  305. 

Ingman,  it.  L.  S..  referred  to,  297. 

Irvin,  Judge  David,  38,  41,  211.  214-15. 
Irwin,  A.  J.,  referred  to,  120. 

Jackson,  Thos..  workman,  old  capitol,  74, 
138,  210. 

Jarvis,  W.  B.,  octagon  house,  250. 

Jefferson,  J.  W.,  in  war,  278,  287,  303. 
Joachim,  M.,  relerred  to,  365. 

Johnson,  Rev.  J.  E.,  Bapt.  Ch.,  231,  233. 
Johnson,  J.  W.,  referred  to,  305. 

Johnson,  John,  referred  to,  13. 

Jones,  A.  R.,  in  war,  286.  305. 

Jones,  John  N.,  referred  to.  274,  302,  315. 
Jones,  Octavous,  referred  to,  371. 

Juneau,  Solomon,  referred  to,  13,  59. 

Kavanaugh,  Peter,  referred  to,  174. 
Kanouse,  T.  D. .  in  war,  305. 

Kegonsa,  1st  Lake,  account  of,  15. 

Kellogg,  Lafayette,  early  settler,  79.81,94, 
129. 

Kemper,  Bishop,  J..  referred  to,  124. 
Kendall,  J.  E.,  referred  to,  250. 

Kentucky  House  built,  145. 

Kentzler,  Andrew  referred  to,  312. 

Kerr,  Prof.  A.,  referred  to,  365. 

Keyes,  E.  W.,  Mayor,  etc.,  232,297,308,344. 
Kileore,  D.  Y..  School  Supt.,  237. 

Kingston.  J.  T.,  referred  to,  90.  • 

Kinney,  Jeff.,  capitol  workman,  74. 
Klauber.  S.  &  Co.,  stores,  etc.,  268,  274,283. 
Klauber  &  Ott,  merchants.  315. 

Kleuter,  H„  referred  to,  344. 

Knapp,  J.  G.,  early  settler,  etc.,  65,  78,  91-2, 
97,  99,  120,  191-2. 

Kohner,  B.,  referred  to,  301. 

Kundig,  Rev.  M.  K.,  R.  Catholic  clergyman, 
147. 

Lake  House,  erected,  173. 

Lake  Side  Water  Cnre,  241. 

Lansing,  R.  W.,  reminiscences,  152-159. 
Lapham,  I.  A.,  account  of  mounds,  11. 
Lapham,  I.  A.,  President  of  Historical 
Society,  306. 

LathroD,  J.  H.,  Chancellor  of  University, 
218-287. 

Lavec,  early  resident,  84. 

Lawrence,  H  ,  same,  74. 

Lawrence,  H.  K.,  referred  to,  304. 

Leahey,  Rev.  M.,  confined  for  murder,  173. 
Legislature,  First  Madison  Session,  90-2. 
Leitch,  Wm.  T..  referred  to,  282,  287,  289, 
294,  321,  336,  365. 

Leland,  C.,  workman  on  Capitol,  74. 

Lewis,  H.  M.,  referred  to,  265. 


418 


INDEX. 


Lewis,  J.  H-  referred  to,  80. 

Lighthizer,  H.  B.,  in  war,  305. 

Lindhorst,  F.  W..  referred  to,  265. 

Lincoln,  President,  Death  of,  298. 

“  Little  Dandy,”  Chief  at  Madison,  1837, 66. 
Livesey,  James,  builder,  etc.,  26,  363. 

Lord,  Rev.  C  harles,  Pastor  Congregational 
Church,  131,  177. 

Lovewell,  J.  T.,  school  superintendent, 
297. 

Low,  Captain,  referred  to  23-4,  102, 105. 
Lull,  Dr.  A.,  referred  to.  79-122. 

Lyon,  Isaac.  Historical  Society,  319. 

Lyon,  Orson,  early  surveyor,  27. 

Lyon,  W.  P.,  flag  presentation,  311, 

McArthur,  A.,  referred  to,  250,  265. 
McBride,  E.  S.,  referred  to,  344. 

McCabe,  J.  P.  B.,  census  of  1842,  141. 
McConnell,  B.,  in  war,  304. 

McDill,  Dr.  A.  S.,  lunatic  asylum,  309. 
McDonald,  A.  i«.,  wounded  in  war,  297. 
McFadden,  Mrs.,  early  settler,  115. 
McFarland,  D.,  referred  to.  283. 

McFarland,  John  H.,  referre  to,  282,  290. 
McHugh,  Rev.  S.,  Rector  of  Grace  Church, 
150-1. 

McKenney,  J.  C.,  referred  to,  321,  359. 
McMynn,  J.  G.,  referred  to,  310. 

Madison,  academy  organized,  150. 

Business,  1842, 140. 

Board  of  Education,  238,  291.  See 
Schools. 

Boat  Club,  referred  to,  345. 
Encampment,  233. 

Express,  established,  96-7,  179,  200. 
Engine  Companies,  organized,  262. 

Gas  Light  and  Coke  Co.,  245-6. 

Guards,  established,  233,  263. 

Hotel,  early  history  of,  72-75,  79. 

Hotel  Co.,  organized,  229. 

Hydraulic  Co.,. chartered,  242. 
Incorporated  as  a  village,  150-1, 166-7. 
Incorporated  as  a  city,  251-2. 

Institute,  organized,  233. 

Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  organized,  151. 
Lyceum,  organized,  78.  129. 
Manufacturers  in,  1839, 1852,  1856,  1864, 
102,  230,  250,  299. 

Merchants,  1850,  221. 

Mutual  Ins.  Co.,  incorporated,  239,  291. 
“Sacred  Music  Society,  incorporated,  224. 
St.  George’s  Society,  organized,  255. 
School  District  No.  1,  organized,  139. 
Select  School,  opened,  140. 

State  Journal  established,  230-1,  333-35 
Topography,  31. 

Typograph.  society  organized,  134. 
Young  Mens’  Ass.  organized,  231. 
Yacht  club,  organized,  345. 

Village  School  District,  organized,  189, 

200. 

Maeder,  F.,  referred  to,  81,  342. 

Main,  A.  H.,  Gov’t  Ass.,  etc.,  322-3,  366. 
Main,  W.  S.,  referred  to,  232,  249. 

Mallo,  Daniel,  early  settler,  224. 

Mallows,  O.  C.,  referred  to,  367. 

Marquette,  Father,  referred  to,  9. 

Marshall  &  Ilslev,  State  Bank,  229. 

Marshall  Bros.  &  Co.,  referred  to,  361. 
Marsh,  L.  R.,  surveyor,  48. 

Marston,  J.  T.,  referred  to,  232,  249. 

Martin,  M.  L.,  referred  to,  17,  18,  65, 120. 
Mason,  Geo.  A.,  relerred  to,  284,  292,  370. 
Mason,  S.  T.,  village  proprietor,  46.  . 
Mason,  Rev.  L.  B.,  in  war,  280. 

Masonic  Celebration,  1845,  151. 

Massing,  F.,  referred  to,  324, 


Matson,  Rev.  L.  E.,  Pastor  Cong.  Ch  ,  294. 
298. 

Mayers,  Casper,  referred  to,  367. 

Mayers,  Chas,  Geo.,  referred  to,  266,279,360. 
Maxwell,  Rev.  Jas.  L.,  Grace  Church,  288. 
Maxwell,  E.  C.,  early  workman,  74. 

Matts,  P.  W.,  early  settler,  127. 

Mather,  Rev.  P.  S.,  referred  to,  357. 
Maxwell,  Jas.,  referred  to.  120. 

Mears,  J.  R.,  referred  to,  34 1. 

Mendota  or  4th  lake,  description  of,  14. 
Merchants’  Bank,  organizi  d,  255. 

Meredith,  A.  A.,  in  war,  etc.,  275,  277,  304. 
Merrill,  C.,  early  workman,  74. 

Merrill,  H.,  referred  to,  104. 

Merrill,  J.  S.,  early  workman,  74. 
Messersmith,  Geo.,  referred  to,  50.  81,342-3 
Messersmith,  John,  early  settler,  65,  81. 
Methodist  Church,  history,  etc.,  291,350-57, 
366. 

Miller,  Judge  A.  G.,  referred  to,  4G. 

Miller,  Rev.  J.  G.,  Evang.  Ass.,  226-7. 
Miller,  M.  D.,  referred  to,  232-4,  257,  290. 
Miller,  W.  H.,  in  war.  304. 

Mills,  Arthur  C.,  in  war,  305. 

Mills,  Simeon,  early  settler,  20,  36,  38,  75-6, 
79,  148,  168,  221,  229,  268,  290,  308.317,326, 
344,  381. 

Milwaukee  and  Miss.  R.  R.  opened  to  Mad¬ 
ison,  235,  238-9. 

Miner,  Rev.  E.  S.,  Cong.  Church,  139. 
Mitchell,  L.  C.,  in  war.  305. 

Mohr,  F.,  referred  to,  252,  367. 

Montandon,  L. ,  early  settler,  177. 

Moore,  D  B.,  in  war,  297. 

“Monks  Hall.”  362. 

Monona  or  3d  lake,  descrip,  of,  15. 

Mounds  in  Dane  Co.,  11. 

Morrison,  Jas.,  early  settler,  71,  79,  80,  265, 
270. 

Morton,  Col.,  referred  to,  41. 

Moseley  <ft  Bro.,  referred  to,  334. 

Muml'ord.  D.,  early  workman,  74. 

Murray,  Owen,  same,  74. 

National  Hotel  built,  137,  155. 

Nelson,  E  H.,  workman  on  capitol,  74. 
Nichols,  Col.  Ab.,  referred  to,  41,65,80,116- 
17,  121. 

Nicholas,  J.  S.,  land  proprietor,  129. 

Noble,  J.  D.,  referred  to,  81. 

Noland,  W.  H.,  referred  to,  309. 

Nolan,  Rev.  John,  referred  to,  357. 

N olden’s  Hotel  built,  81. 

Noonan.  J.  A.,  early  resident,  35,  37,50,51, 
79  93  94  127. 

Northrup,  H.  J.,  referred  to,  233. 

Oakley,  E.  S.,  in  war,  304. 

Ogden,  A.  &  W.  B..  referred  to,  362. 

Ogden,  F.  A.,  referred  to,  344. 

O'Neill.  T.  F.,  building  commissioner,  71-2 
Orton,  H,S., ’relerred  to,  231,233,235,263,266. 
274,  297. 

Osborn,  kept  Madison  Hotel,  73. 

Ott,  J.  G.,  referred  to,  367. 


Paine,  Byron,  referred  to,  283. 

Palmer,  I.  N.,  early  settler,  74,  78,  81. 
Pardee,  A.  a.,  referred  to,  344. 

Park  Hotel,  account  of,  etc  .  328,  338-40. 
Patriot  Newspaper  published.  231. 

Payne,  Geo.,  early  mechanic,  79. 
rearson,  Albert,  in  war,  305 
Peaseley,  C.  C.,  early  workman,  14,  53. 
Peck,  Eben,  first  settler,  33,  36,53,54,55,82, 
101-2. 


INDEX. 


419 


Peck,  Mrs.  Roseline,  narrative,  etc.,  54-7, 
•  82-4,381. 

Pellage,  Henry,  killed  in  war,  305. 

Pellkie,  Jos.,  resident  in  1837,  55,  84,  110, 


214. 

Perry,  B.  F.,  kept  Madison  Hotel,  73. 
Penoyer,  R.,  early  workman.  74. 

Philo.  Rev.  VV.,  Epis.  Ch.,  81,  126-8, 187-8. 
Pickard,  J.  L.,  elected  President  of  Uni¬ 


versity,  266,  310. 

Pickarts,  A.,  referred  to,  331. 

Pierce,  Albert  H.,  referred  to,  67. 
Pierce,  Miss,  teacher,  129. 

Pierce,  Josiah,  early  settler,  66. 
Piltsbnry,  Rev.  S.,  referred  to,  351. 
Pinneo — a  resident  in  1837,  112,  206-8. 


Pinney,  S.  U.,  Mayor,  etc.,  369-70. 

Pitman,  W.  G.,  in  the  war,  286,  304. 

Platt,  Arthur,  in  the  war,  279. 

Plunkett,  W.  H.,  in  war,  274,  304. 

Poll  List  1839,  96. 

Poole,  D.  W.  C„  in  the  war,  274,  304. 
Portage  Railroad  opened,  337. 

Porter,  Win.  F.,  referred  to,  274. 

Potter,  J.  S.,  first  marriage,  92. 

Potter,  Jairus  and  Horace,  early  settlers, 


75. 

Powers,  T).  J.,  referred  to,  265. 

Powers,  Rev.  H.,  clergyman,  235. 

Pratt.  A.  F..  early  traveler,  26,  41-2,  51-2. 
Presbyterian  Ch.  History,  224-5,  360-1. 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  See  Grace 
Church.  Philo,  Rev.  W. 

Prentiss,  N.  C.  Building  Commissioner,  71. 
Pritchette,  K„  early  land  proprietor,  102. 
Proudfit.  A.,  Mayor,  etc  ,  323-4,  331. 
Proudfit,  J.  K.,  referred  to,  etc.,  279,  303, 


314. 


Proudfit,  Miss  Sarah  M.,  referred  to,  372. 
Pulford,  Dr.,  referred  to,  153. 


Quaw,  Rev.  Mr.,  alluded  to,  124,  187. 
Quivey,  E.,  kept  Madison  Hotel,  73. 


Ramsay  &  Campbell,  referred  to,  315. 
Randall,  G.  P.  &  Co.,  363. 

Randall  Guards  organized,  275,  277,  287. 
RandolDh,  J.  F.,  military  history,  274,  277, 
282,  304. 

Rankin,  C.  S.  Co.,  dome  builders,  318. 
Rannev,  Dr.  M.,  Lunatic  Asylum,  309 
Rasdall,  Abel,  early  settler,  20-1,  24,  25,  33, 
68,  79,  82,  123-4,  177,  188. 

Rasdall,  Wm.  M.,  early  settler,  82, 145,  177, 

312,  357. 

Rebellion  History,  273-£79. 

Read,  E.  L.,  Experience  in  Army,  281-2. 
Read,  Dame',  referred  to,  299. 

Read,  Rev.  E.  G,  Presbyterian  Ch.,  226. 
Read,  Theodore,  funeral  ceremonies,  299. 
Ream,  R.  L.,  early  settler,  72,  79,  102-6, 127. 
Ream,  Yinnie,  referred  to-  72. 

Reed,  Harrison,  State  Journal,  230. 

Reed,  Herbert,  referred  to,  282. 

Reed,  E.  R.,  in  war,  277. 

Reynolds,  Thos  ,  referred  to,  239,  280,  296, 
304. 

Riordan,  Rev.,  referred  to,  312. 

Richards,  Mrs.  L.  A.,  Cong.  Ch.  Bell,  368. 
Richards.  Rev.  C.  H.,  Pastor  Cong.  Ch., 

313,  349-50,  372. 

Richardson,  Rev.  H.  Stone,  referred  to,  357. 
Rising,  R.  S.,  settler,  1837,  74. 

Robbins  &  Thornton,  referred  to,  367-8. 
Rock.  Thomas,  referred  to,  366. 

Rockwood,  Richard,  early  resident,  74. 
Rollins,  Nat.,  referred  to,  275,  292,  304. 


Rountree.  J.  H..  in  Black  Hawk  War,  19. 
Rowan,  W.,  early  resident,  20,  24,  104. 
Rowe,  Henry  early  workman,  74. 

Ruggles,  J.  D.,  in  the  war,  305. 

Sabin,  G.  M.,  in  the  war,  305. 

St.  Cyr.  Michel,  early  trader,  25-27,  35,41, 
49,  52. 

St.  Raphael’s  Church  erected,  234-5. 

St.  Regina  Seminary  built,  344. 

Salomon,  Gov.  E.  referred  to,  306. 

Salter,  Benj.,  referred  to,  65. 

Sanborn,  A.  S.,  Mayor.  314,  348. 

Schools  and  School  Houses,  referred  to, 
100-1,  129,  139-40,  149,  189-90.  200,  220-1- 
2-3-7-8,  233,  249-50,  255-257,  264,  269-70, 
288,  291-2,  297,  300, 309-10,  3.5-16,  322-25, 
332-6,  365. 

Schette,  J.  C.,  Foundry.  284. 

Schermerhorn  House  built,  78. 

Searie,  E  S.,  school  teacher.  100. 

Searles,  Rev.  J.  M.,  referred  to,  357. 
Seaver,  W.,  early  workman,  63,  75. 
Seymour,  Wm.  N.,  early  settler,  129,  178, 
188,  230,  233. 

Seward,  W.  H.,  visits  Madison,  268. 
Settlers,  1840-41,  134, 138. 

Sexton,  Andrew,  referred  to,  265,  279. 
Shackleford,  B.,  referred  to.  79. 

Sheldon,  S.  L.,  merchant,  315. 

Shipman,  S.  V.,  referred  to,  281,  293,  308. 
Shields  &  Sneeden,  merchants,  302. 
Sherman,  J.  B.,  in  Black  Hawk  War,  19. 
Sholes.  C.  C.,  refe:  red  to,  86. 

Shake  Rae, early  name  of  Mineral  Point, 41. 
Sheldon,  J.  P.,  Wis.  Democrat,  140. 
Sherwin,  A.,  referred  to,  265. 

Skinner,  E.  W.,  referred  to,  265,  315. 
Slaughter,  Geo.  H.,  early  settler,  255-6. 
Slaughter,  Wm  B.,  early  settler,  etc.,  21, 
27-8,  80,  127.  255-6. 

Slater,  — ,  Madison  Hotel.  73. 

Slightam,  J.,  referred  to,  367. 

Slingerland,  E.,  early  Minister,  128-131. 
Smedley,  Miss,  Teacher,  149. 

Smith.  •  ■ .  H.,  Mayo;  etc.,  262,  265,  267 

268,  350. 

Smith.  John  Y.,  early  settler,  etc.,  10,  11, 
140-1,  143-4,  148,  225,  238,  307,  313. 
Smith,  L.M..  Teacher,  144. 

Smith,  Nicholas,  early  Merchant,  78.  224. 
Smith,  Gen.  W.  R.,  referred  to,  87,  307. 
Snow.  Rev.  J.  M.,  referred  to,  352. 
Spalding,  Rev.  H.  W.,  Grace  Church,  318, 
331. 

Sorenson  &  Frederickson,  referred  to,  313, 
316,  360. 

Soldiers’  Orphans’  Home,  299,  300. 
Spencer,  D.  J.,  referred  to,  81,181. 

Sprague,  E.  T.,  in  war,  278  304. 

Stacy,  S.  G.,  referred  to,  237. 

Staines,  H.  B.,  referred  to,  250. 

State  Historical  Society,  organized,  etc., 
202,306-8. 

State  Hospital  for  Insane,  240,  261,  272-3, 
308. 

State  Journal,  established,  230.  See  At¬ 
wood.  D.,  Madison  State  Journal. 
Starkweather,  J.  C.  referred  to,  275,  281. 
304. 

Starks,  J.  J.,  City  Treasurer,  252. 

Steam  Saw  Mill,  78. 

Steamer  City  of  Madison,  314. 

Steamers,  see  Barnes,  F. 

Steam  Fire  Engines,  313. 

Stebbins,  Rev.  S.,  referred  to,,  351,  55,  57. 
Sterling,  J.  W.,  referred  to,  225,  226  ,  235, 
266,304. 


INDEX. 


420 


Sterling,  W.  T.,  early  settler,  79,  81,  100, 
127, 138. 

Stevens,  Mrs.  E.  F.,  referred  to,  372. 
Stewart,  J.  H.,  referred  to,  387. 

Stolze,  F.  A.,  referred  to,  286. 

Stone,  Li.  1).,  referred  to,  313. 

Stoner,  John,  early  settler,  78,  290,346-8. 
Stoner,  G.  W  ,  referred  to,  100,  290,  348. 
Stoner,  Madison,  first  male  child,  347. 
Straight,  John,  referred  to,  27. 

Strong,  M.  M.,  Surveyor,  etc.,  35-6,  45-48, 
50. 

Sullivan,  W.  J.,  Merchant,  295,  313,  372. 
Suckow.  B.  YV.,  referred  to,  313r. 

Sumner.  J.  M.,  in  the  war,  286. 

SumDer,  Ed.,  referred  to,  367. 

Sutherland,  Thos.  YV.,  early  settler,  79, 
127,  266-67. 

Surveys  of  Four  Lakes,  27. 

Suydam,  J.  V.,  surveyed  Madison,  28-31. 
Symington,  Capt.  J.,  referred  to,  86. 
Symonds,  YVm.  and  John,  early  workmen, 
74-85. 

Tallmadge,  Gov.  N.  P„  referred  to,  79. 
Tappan,  E.  A.,  in  the  war,  274. 

Taylor,  Bayard,  visits  Madison,  244. 
Taylor,  Jonathan,  referred  to,  118. 

Taylor,  Rev.  L.,  Congregational  Minister, 
271. 

Telegraph  established,  190. 

Tenney,  C.  K.,  referred  to,  370. 

Tenney,  D.  K..,  referred  to,  290,  324. 
Tenney,  H.  A.,  Editor,  etc.,  148.  159-65, 
231,  233,  242,  276,  311,  377,  380. 

Terrill,  Wm.,  workman  on  capitol,  74. 
Thayer,  Delaney,  referred  to,  224. 
Thompson,  Rev.  H.  M.,  Episcopal  Church, 
152. 

Thompson.  Rev.  C.  L.,  referred  to,  361. 
Thornton,  H.  YV.,  same,  74. 

Tibbitts  &  Gordon,  merchants,  203. 

Tiffany,  H.  A.,  early  physician,  181. 

Tiger,  The,  gambling  house,  80,  81,  342-43. 
Tinline,  James,  capitol  workman,  74. 
Tolford,  J.  YV.,  referred  to,  286,  305. 
Towers,  Isaac,  resident  1837.  77. 

Towers,  Wm.  P.,  Orphans  Home,  300. 
Trappers  of  Four  Lakes,  10. 

Tredway,  W.  YV..  referred  to,  265,  276,  289. 
Twotnbly,  J.  H.,  President  University,  350. 

Ubeldine,  resident  1837, 103,  208,  209. 
Underwood.  J.  H.,  artesian  well,  310. 
Union  Congregate  Church,  organized,  265. 
University  Hill,  Account  of.  31. 

University  of  YVisconsin,  organization  and 
history,  183,  199,  200,  217-19,  240,  258-9, 
266,  271,  310,  335. 

U  nited  States  Court  House  and  Post  Office, 
account  ot,  321-2,  340-1. 

V  an  Bergen,  P.  H.,  early  resident,  73,  131 
222,  341,  361. 

V  an  Norstrand,  Dr.  A.  H.,  referred  to,  309. 

Y  an  Slyke,  N.  B.,  relerred  to,  243  250  257 
292. 

Y  an  YVyck,  A.,  referred  to,  314. 


|  Vineyard,  J.  R.,  killing  of  C.  C.  P.  Arndt,. 

139-40,  289. 

Vilas,  Henry,  in  the  war,  286. 

Vilas,  L.  B.,  221,  228,  243,  268,  271,  287,  292. 
Vilas,  W.  F.,  in  the  war,  286.  304,  350. 
Vrotnan,  Geo.,  early  settler,  75. 

Wakefield,  J.  A.,  account  of  Four  Lakes,  23. 
YVakeley,  E.,  referred  to,  78,  317. 

Ward,  Dr.  A  J.,  in  the  war,  277. 

Ward,  Horatio,  referred  to.  301. 

War  of  Rebel  ion.  See  Rebellion  History, 
Warner,  C.  E.,  wounded  in  war,  296. 
Warren,  — ,  killed  by  lightning,  111. 
Waubesa,  Second  Lake,  account  of,  15. 
Wauconda,  Indian  Chief,  84. 

Weed,  Charles,  relerred  to,  73,  79,  334. 
YVelch,  J.  D.,  referred  to,  73. 

Welch.  Wiliam,  referred  to,  73,  168, 169T 
252,  350,  362. 

Wells,  W.  C.,  merchant,  334. 

Weston,  J.  D.,  merchant,  46, 149,  233. 
YVheeler,  W.  A.,  early  settler,  75. 

Wheeler,  N.  W.,  referred  to,  86. 

White,  Wm  ,  imprisoned  lor  murder.  173. 
Whitman,  Rev.  S.  S.,  Baptist  Minister, 
196,  233. 

Whittlesey,  Col.  C  ,  early  traveler,  22-3. 
Whitesides,  — ,  early  capitol  workman,  75. 
Widvey,  T.  J.,  in  the  war,  287,  305. 

Wilcox,  T.  M.,  referred  to,  138. 

Wilkinson,  Rev.  J.,  referred  to,  331. 
Williams,  C.  L.,  referred  to,  284. 

Williams,  David,  early  workman,  74. 
Williamson,  E.  M.,  early  settler,  39,  79, 
100-1, 138,  366. 

Wilson,  J.  M.,  referred  to,  76. 

Wilson,  John  T.,  early  mechanic,  79. 
Wilson,  R.  F.,  early  settler,  149. 

Winnebago  Outbreak,  etc.,  12,  163. 
Winnequah,  Summer  Resort,  312. 
Wisconsin  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences 
organized,  317. 

Wis.  Argus,  newspaper,  77,  148,  179,  189. 
Wisconsin  Bank,  at  Madison,  org’d,  257. 
Wisconsin  Democrat,  newspaper,  140. 
Wisconsin  Enquirer,  newspaper.  92-3, 138. 
Wisconsin  Patriot,  newspaper,  231. 
Wisconsin  Statesman,  newspaper,  219 
Wisconsin  Stale  flistor.  Soc.  See  State 
Histcr.  Society. 

Wisconsin  State  Journal.  See  Madison 
State  Journal,  etc. 

Wolves  in  Madison,  119. 

Wood,  Abram,  early  resident,  36,  41,  55,  76. 
84. 

Wood,  Chas.  A.,  referred  to,  274,  304. 
Woodward,  W.  H.,  clergyman,  152. 
Woolcock,  Wm.,  referred  to,  etc.,  62,  75. 
Wootton,  R.,  referred  to,  349,  365. 
Worthington,  B.  M,  referred  to,  367. 

“  Worser,”  The,  old  building,  80. 

Wright, D.  H.,  teacher,  etc.,  149.  221,238, 356. 
Wyman,  W.  W.,  referred  to,  73. 

Wyrick,  Rev.  C.  E.,  referred  to,  357. 

Yager.  H.  W.,  Madison  Hotel,  73. 

Young  &  Bros.,  referred  to,  312. 


